Newly released documents reveal Kimberly Kessler’s fellow inmates reportedly told investigators about her strange behavior behind bars, including claims about voodoo dolls and questions about hiding a body.
Kessler is suspected of murdering her co-worker, Nassau County mother Joleen Cummings last May.
Cummings was last seen on May 12 at Tangles Hair Salon, where she and Kessler worked.
Kessler has been held at the Duval County jail for eight months.
According to newly released evidence, multiple inmates told investigators Kessler is always walking around with a Bible, but they believe she’s really eavesdropping on other inmates’ conversations.
STORY: Newly released documents shed light on what may have happened to Joleen Cummings
Kessler’s jail roommate reportedly told investigators she made bizarre statements about her mother.
Kessler reportedly said her mother used to “sell her to men” and would “wear jeweled masks and go out at night.”
The roommate also reportedly said Kessler “is very guarded over her hair and believes her mother would make voodoo dolls from her hair to punish her.”
Claims about voodoo dolls made of hair & questions about hiding a dead body. New documents reveal strange behavior behind bars, according to Kimberly Kessler's fellow inmates. She's accused of murdering #NassauCounty mom Joleen Cummings. I'm live at 5 on CBS47 @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/aKyLvMfcn1
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) February 8, 2019
“I don’t think that’s true. And selling her, I don’t think any of that’s true at all,” said Kessler's childhood friend Kimberly McCall.
McCall has also been interviewed by investigators.
She said Kessler was her best friend when they were children.
“She never mentioned anything of the sort and I never saw anything out of line, anything that would be a flag for me to not want to go to her house,” said McCall.
I caught up with a woman interviewed by detectives in the Kimberly Kessler case. Kim McCall says she & Kessler were best friends as children. Why she doesn't believe the claims Kessler reportedly made about her mother, voodoo dolls & prostitution in jail, live at 5 on CBS47 pic.twitter.com/lkKT3hEPJI
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) February 8, 2019
Kessler’s jail roommate also reportedly told investigators Kessler tried to instigate a fight with another inmate.
The investigator’s notes say, “Kessler stood in the doorway of her cell and placed both of her breasts into each hand. She began shaking them and told the inmate to step into the cell. (Referring to starting a fight).”
At 5: Murder suspect Kimberly Kessler's jail roommate reportedly told investigators she tried to start a fight w/ an inmate. "Kessler stood in the doorway of her cell and placed both of her breasts into each hand. She began shaking them and told the inmate to step into the cell." pic.twitter.com/DrFqFGX13z
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) February 8, 2019
Her roommate also reportedly said Kessler was “very inquisitive” about how another inmate charged with murder hid the body.
New records also show a Texas man told investigators Kessler drove halfway across the country and proposed to him.
David Trempus told Action News Jax that encounter happened about a month before he got a call from investigators about the murder.
Trempus said Kessler contacted him on Facebook under the alias Mia Stone.
"She was kind of weird," said Trempus.
He said things got weirder when she suddenly drove more than 1,000 miles from Florida to Texas to meet him.
“I didn’t even want her coming out to the house when I found out she was here in San Antonio, so I met her in town. And after about a half-hour lunch at a Whataburger, she was just a little too weird for me,” said Trempus.
He said she wanted to marry him, but he turned her down.
“She kind of wanted to make a deal with me, you know, that it would be easier with two people living in a household to get custody of my son, and wanted to marry me,” said Trempus. “I already knew she was creepy. The Lord kind of blessed me on picking that one right.”
David Trempus told investigators murder suspect Kimberly Kessler drove halfway across the country & proposed to him a month before Joleen Cummings disappeared. He thought they'd met on Facebook, but it turns out Kessler was no stranger. His bizarre story at 6 on @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/EekIrkn7E8
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) February 8, 2019
Turns out, Kessler was no stranger.
Trempus and McCall are cousins.
McCall said she told Kessler to leave her family alone.
McCall said she remembered a bizarre phone call with Kessler years after their childhood friendship ended.
"I believe it was the late '90s – out of the blue. It was an odd time, like 3 or 4 a.m., and (she) told me about what she had done to her brother," said McCall. "She bragged to me that she bashed his teeth out with a baseball bat."
Kessler’s next court date is in three weeks.
Murder suspect Kimberly Kessler's roommate reportedly told investigators Kessler was "very inquisitive" about how another inmate charged with murder hid the body. I'm live at 5 on CBS47 @ActionNewsJax with more bizarre details from behind bars. pic.twitter.com/LTRmX45kHU
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) February 8, 2019
MORE:
Documents released in investigation involving missing Nassau County mom
TIMELINE: The disappearance of Joleen Cummings
Customers told Action News Jax there was tension between Kessler and Cummings
Community raises money for Joleen Cummings' children
Items of interest found in Joleen Cummings landfill search, Sheriff says
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