In this emotionally harrowing episode, Sara - Juror #11 - walks us through Day 4 of the trial against Jason Chen — the day the jury came face to face with the most difficult evidence yet. Forensic expert Dr. Steven Cogswell takes the stand, leading the courtroom through the grim details of Jasmine Pace’s autopsy. Through X-rays, photographs, and expert testimony, the jury sees exactly how Jasmine was found — restrained, contorted inside a suitcase, and bearing the marks of 60 separate stab wounds. The evidence paints a chilling picture, not just of violence, but of deliberate cruelty. A broken knife blade lodged inside Jasmine’s lung. Blood evidence that suggests a desperate struggle. And hauntingly, the moment when Jasmine sent her mother a location pin — her final message — just minutes after a scream was heard from Jason Chen’s apartment. Sara also reflects on the weight of what it means to see these images firsthand, and how jurors’ own questions helped piece together a clearer but more devastating timeline. This is the day the reality of the case truly set in — and it’s a day no one in that courtroom will ever forget. Try Audible for Free! Try Audible Premium Plus free! $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime. On our website, you can see more photos, videos, and blogs about each day of the trial, organized by episode. Go to SequesteredPod.com Website: sequesteredpod.com Instagram: @sequesteredpod TikTok: @sequesteredpod Thank you for listening. SEQUESTERED is a BP Production.
Chapter 1: What graphic evidence does the jury face on Day 4?
Before we get into this episode, I want to give you a heads up. It contains graphic descriptions of violence, including details from an autopsy. Out of respect for Jasmine and her family, we've chosen to hold back on some of the more graphic details. But what you will hear may still be unsettling. So please listen with care. It's Thursday, January 16th, 2025. Day four of the trial.
Before we even stepped into the jury room this morning, we could feel the weight of what was coming. I went to bed last night bracing myself for today, trying to prepare my mind and my heart for what we were about to see. But how do you prepare for something like this? As jurors, part of our job was to face the evidence, to see what no one should ever have to see.
Today, we would see images of Jasmine Pace's lifeless body, and with them, the undeniable reality of what was done to her. We already knew the facts. She was stabbed 60 times, restrained, and stuffed into a suitcase. But knowing and seeing, those are two entirely different things. No one should ever have to witness another human being in that state. And yet, here we were.
This is Sequestered, a juror's perspective on the murder trial for Jasmine Pace. I'm Sarah, juror number 11. Each episode, I'll take you inside the courtroom, behind the scenes, and into the weighty moments of this trial as we honor Jasmine's life and navigate the complexities of seeking justice. Let's begin. This is Episode 5, The Body in the Suitcase.
I learned this only after the fact, but while we were waiting in the jury room that morning, DA Cody Womp noticed that Defense Attorney Weiss moved a trash can near Jason Chen at the defense table, along with a box of tissues. Here's a clip of how that scene played out in the courtroom just minutes before the jury came in.
Your Honor, one second. Can we have one second? They moved the trash can in front of the defendant and they brought little napkins over here. If it applies to the gallery that there can be no outbursts, Mr. Chin also needs to be self-imposed during this testimony or he can exit the court as well.
I agree. But just this is
Okay, well, the trash can was just a little closer to him. I've already indicated that he's feeling unwell. I'm just saying that's prejudicial as well, Judge.
Well, everyone has to comport themselves with maintaining the court for this particular proceeding, so that includes counsel, defendants. However, this is going to be very graphic and personal testimony, so everyone needs to maintain their composure, courier questions,
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Chapter 2: Who is Dr. Steven Cogswell and what is his role?
But
So each of those bags is cut off, removed, and that reveals the body of a young woman who is in a fetal position, has no clothing on the top half of her body, and is shackled and handcuffed.
I think it's interesting that Cogswell mentions the direction in which the bags were placed over Jasmine's body here. He said the first bag was pulled up from her feet to her head. the second placed from her head down towards her feet, and the third, once again, from her feet over her head. Each bag was cinched closed and tied with a knot.
At first, this might seem like a minor detail, but his point is chilling. Cogswell has clearly seen this pattern before, and it speaks to something deeper, something disturbingly consistent in human behavior when attempting to conceal a body. Dr. Cogswell then walks the jury through the painstaking process of documenting all 60 of the wounds on Jasmine's body.
Each injury is photographed first as it was found, then again after being cleaned. He explains the key difference between incised wounds and stab wounds. Incised wounds are more superficial and have directionality, appearing more as a slice, while stab wounds are, as they sound, a strike penetrating deeper and causing more severe damage.
The jury also learns about three critical timeframes forensic experts use to classify injuries. Antimortem, which is inflicted before death. Perimortem, which is inflicted around the time of death. And postmortem, which is inflicted after death. It's a sobering moment as science strips away the emotion and breaks down the unimaginable into cold clinical facts.
Dr. Cogswell then shares a lesson he instills in his students when teaching about sharp force injuries. Look for the blood. Until every drop is accounted for, they truly don't know where the bleeding occurred. And until you find this, you haven't found the crime scene.
And we know about size.
So in a person who is the size of Jasmine Pace, just under 100 pounds,
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Chapter 3: What were the details of Jasmine Pace's autopsy?
So we have forearm here, two forearm bones, and arm and forearm bones here. And so we're down here. This is her buttocks. Two, three, four, sir. And we're moving over, obviously, to the last part, which is down here. And again, we have all the hardware of the suitcase. We see a bit of pelvis bone here, the lumbar spine here. Again, one of those shackles that we saw in the previous x-ray.
And so we have basically, by going counterclockwise, we have a complete picture of a small, male or female, still inside the suitcase, still inside those black plastic bags.
Yeah, you heard that correctly. Handcuffs and shackles. For those of you who are curious about the difference between the two, I was. Handcuffs are designed to restrain a person's wrists together. Shackles, on the other hand, have a longer chain between the cuffs and are typically heavier metal restraints used to secure different parts of the body, usually the ankles.
Think of prisoners being transferred. With Prosecutor Moyle's instructions, Dr. Cogswell puts on a pair of blue gloves and opens the evidence bag containing the handcuffs, showing them to the jury.
They are still wrapped in the surgical towel that came from the medical examiner's office. Again, these are not the typical law enforcement handcuffs. They're simply cheap steel, chrome plated. Thank you. Are those the same cuffs that you saw on the screen? Yes, sir. That's correct. It's the same cuffs that you can see here. Here's the right hand, right foot.
He goes through the same process with the shackles.
In the case of the shackles, it was not to the left arm, but it was to the right elbow or forearm just below the elbow. So her left hand and arm were actually free. They were not bound. I'm sure when you made his evidence, his 204-19, could you tell us what was on the ice in the snow ground? This is Jasmine Pace's right elbow area. You can see this with the tattoo on her shoulder.
This is her actual elbow here. And you can see two lines of rust, basically, along with the pattern of that chain, again, with a rust pattern showing where the shackle was. And in fact, you can see, I think, where the double part of the shackle is over here, right at the inside part of the elbow.
Cogswell also pointed out rust stains on Jasmine's skin, evidence of where the shackles and chains pressed against her for an extended period. He then presented a photo of the left side of Jasmine's body, which was completely free of wounds. But when her body was rolled over, it became clear that every single injury was concentrated on her upper right side.
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Chapter 4: What does the positioning of the body suggest?
Remember, at 2.18 a.m., just seven minutes after that scream, Jasmine sends her mom the location pin. That tiny act says so much. Things were bad. She knew she needed help. And I can't stop wondering, when in those terrifying moments did Jason retrieve the handcuffs and shackles? Was it before or after that text was sent?
Could Jasmine have made it back to the bathroom, just barely closing the door, buying herself a few precious seconds to send her location? I keep picturing her, leaning against that wall, maybe sitting on the floor, bracing for whatever came next. Given the layout of the bathroom, it could make sense that her left side was against the wall, with Jason towering above her.
especially when you consider the pattern of stab wounds to her scalp, face, shoulders, and her free hand. We know there was a pool of blood in the bathroom, some of it crossing the threshold into the bedroom. There was blood spatter on the wall, smears on the door frames, all of it painting a chilling picture of violence in a confined space.
And that leads us to one of the biggest questions raised in the courtroom. Was Jasmine already cuffed when she was being stabbed? Or, as the defense claimed, were the restraints only used after her death to make her body fit into the trash bags?
We know her right wrist was handcuffed to the inside of her left ankle, and her right elbow was shackled to her right ankle, leaving her left arm completely free. Now try to picture her left side pressed against the bathroom floor, her right arm threaded between her legs and bound to her ankles. Some kind of cruel game of Twister. It's almost impossible to imagine, actually, let alone endure.
Then there's the blood evidence found in Jason's bedroom. Remember the massive five foot stain on the carpet? That stain tells us her body was likely moved after the attack, or at the very least, the violence ended there before she was put inside the trash bags and eventually into the suitcase.
This is the picture we're left with, pieced together from evidence, testimony, and what we can only imagine Jasmine endured that night. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. If you've been following the case or have your own theories, we'd love to hear them. Send us an email at sequesteredpod at gmail.com.
Before the medical examiner stepped down from the stand, the jurors had a chance to ask their own questions. It's something we've mentioned before, but it's worth repeating because it's pretty rare. Not every judge allows this, but Judge Patterson does, and it gave us the opportunity to clarify facts directly from the witnesses in real time, rather than saving them for the deliberation phase.
I also think it gave the courtroom, more specifically the attorneys, a unique window into what the jury was really curious about throughout the trial. On this particular day, our questions covered everything from whether cleaning agents could have altered the appearance of Jasmine's wounds to whether any fibers or fingerprints were recovered from the scene.
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