James Wilson Jr. is feeling the weight of what happened on Sunday, when he says he gave Jean a ride home from a club in the Houston area, a club where police say he'd been arguing with ex-girlfriend, Victoria Wiley. Wilson says the two grew up together in Baytown, so he agreed to give Jean a ride to an intersection near Jean's mother's home.
That's the last Wilson saw of him, but police say later that night, Jean went to Wiley's home with gasoline and vengeance on his mind but ran into Wiley's daughter, Chelsy Lang, and her cousin, Ashley Johnson. Police say he killed them both and set the house on fire.
"He jumped out the truck and took off running to his mom's house and I didn't see him no more after that," said Wilson.
According to the probable cause statement read in court this morning, Jean told police he got into Wiley's home through an unsecured master bedroom window with a full gas can.
"He told officers he entered the residence through and unsecured bedroom window located in the master bedroom," the prosecutor read. "He told officers he poured gasoline in the closet of Victoria's bathroom and poured gasoline along the bedroom, leaving a trail through the hallway into the living room. He informed the officers as he poured the gasoline in the hallway, he encountered one of the victims. As she exited the bathroom, he stated he got scared as he encountered her and when the victim said, 'Joseph,' the defendant told the officers he struck her in the face with his fist, which sent the victim to the floor."
Is those details in which Wilson finds most chilling, because he has kids of his own and never imagined he was playing a role on such a faithful night.
"That a man could do something like that to some innocent teenage girls, it's sad," he said.
Jean has a criminal record that dates back to 1990, including burglary, assault and harassment.
Here is a list of his criminal history:
Preliminary autopsies report Johnson died from blunt force trauma to the head and Lang died from a combination of blunt force trauma to the head and smoke inhalation.
While police say the confession does leave some answered questions, they do believe he committed those murders and they believe at least one of the girls had tried to get away.
Jean's next court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
