# Legally Brunette: What Happened to Jenny Lupton?

An episode of [Two Ts In A Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1477524410), 8 Oct 2026, 33 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/28/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b85867f1-c5ec-44e0-9f79-b34d0160000c/f8204b2e-a127-49de-88f4-b4dc017b87ad/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=59f37943-e628-4810-8c3b-ae2b00156477

You may remember Jenny Lupton, the Southwest flight attendant who allegedly jumped off of a 24th floor hotel room in Honolulu, HI. Emily and Shane are sitting down with two of Jenny’s best friends to discuss this mysterious case and WHY the alleged suicide attempt doesn’t make sense… How was her body conveniently found in a dumpster? Why is her family not getting any answers? Would she ever leave her teenage son without saying goodbye? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Hi guys, welcome to Legally Brunette. I will be your
[0:04] Speaker 1: host today, Emily Simpson and... Shane. All right, today we
[0:08] Speaker 1: are going to talk about a case that we talked
[0:10] Speaker 1: about previously, which was about a Southwest Airlines flight attendant
[0:15] Speaker 1: who was found dead outside of one of the biggest
[0:18] Speaker 1: resorts in Waikiki. This happened back on the morning of
[0:22] Speaker 1: August 20th. Do you remember this conversation? It had very
[0:25] Speaker 1: suspicious circumstances as far as her death.
[0:29] Speaker 2: Yes.
[0:30] Speaker 3: Okay.
[0:30] Speaker 4: Okay.
[0:31] Speaker 1: She was on a layover in Honolulu, and she was
[0:34] Speaker 1: just 50 years old. By the way, I would just
[0:36] Speaker 1: like to reiterate how young 50 is, just for everyone
[0:40] Speaker 1: out there. Just very young.
[0:42] Speaker 3: I think more for yourself.
[0:44] Speaker 1: She had spent nearly three decades as a flight attendant,
[0:47] Speaker 1: had a teenage son back home in Oklahoma who she
[0:50] Speaker 1: called her whole world, and only hours earlier had been
[0:53] Speaker 1: out dancing with a friend and also was getting a
[0:56] Speaker 1: new tattoo. Her name was Jenny Lupton. Authorities have said
[1:00] Speaker 1: that Jenny jumped from the balcony of her 24th floor
[1:04] Speaker 1: room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Her family does not
[1:07] Speaker 1: accept that as the whole story. They've said publicly that
[1:11] Speaker 1: they don't believe that Jenny would have harmed herself and
[1:14] Speaker 1: that the timeline does not add up. And they've asked
[1:16] Speaker 1: Oklahoma's attorney general to help push for a thorough investigation.
[1:21] Speaker 1: Honolulu police say their homicide detectives are investigating and they've
[1:26] Speaker 1: reached no conclusion about how she died. You've probably seen
[1:30] Speaker 1: the headlines, but headlines can't tell you who Jenny truly was,
[1:33] Speaker 1: what her life looked like in the days and weeks
[1:35] Speaker 1: before that trip, or which questions her loved ones are
[1:39] Speaker 1: still waiting on. Today on Legally Brunette, we have two
[1:43] Speaker 1: of Jenny's closest friends. Their names are Angela and Jen,
[1:47] Speaker 1: and they are going to join the podcast. They knew
[1:50] Speaker 1: her long before her name was in the news, and
[1:52] Speaker 1: they're here to talk about the what they've learned since
[1:56] Speaker 1: that morning, and the parts of this story that just
[1:59] Speaker 1: are not making it into the media coverage. This is
[2:02] Speaker 1: an open investigation, so it's ongoing, and we'll be careful
[2:05] Speaker 1: to separate what's confirmed from what is still unknown. But
[2:09] Speaker 1: we are going to welcome her friends, Angela and Jen,
[2:12] Speaker 1: onto the podcast today. Hi, Angela. Hi, Jen. How are
[2:17] Speaker 1: you guys?
[2:18] Speaker 4: Good. How are you?
[2:19] Speaker 1: I'm good. Thank you so much for being on Legally Brunette.
[2:22] Speaker 1: Just to let you know, we covered this case a
[2:24] Speaker 1: few weeks ago because it was in the media. And
[2:27] Speaker 1: it was interesting. And obviously we do true crime. So
[2:30] Speaker 1: we were talking about it. And I'm excited to have
[2:33] Speaker 1: you guys on here today. Because first of all, before
[2:36] Speaker 1: we ever get into crime and talk about the investigation
[2:40] Speaker 1: or facts or whatever, I think it's really important to
[2:42] Speaker 1: talk about who Jenny was. And you guys were two
[2:45] Speaker 1: of her closest friends. Do you want to just remind
[2:48] Speaker 1: everyone about Jenny, who she was, what she was about?
[2:52] Speaker 1: Just give us some details about her.
[2:55] Speaker 2: Yeah, Jenny was... Gosh, we've both been friends with her
[2:59] Speaker 2: since high school. And she was somebody that always showed up.
[3:04] Speaker 2: No matter what it was, what you were celebrating, big
[3:06] Speaker 2: or small, she was there. And you also always knew
[3:11] Speaker 2: whatever you were doing, it was going to be fun.
[3:14] Speaker 2: And she... Was an amazing mom to her son, Caleb,
[3:18] Speaker 2: who is 15 years old. She loved being a flight
[3:24] Speaker 2: attendant and she was always the life of the party
[3:28] Speaker 2: and just so full of life and energy.
[3:31] Speaker 4: All that. Answered the phone on the first ring, like
[3:35] Speaker 4: literally someone that would always pick up.
[3:37] Speaker 1: That's nice. How has, now I know she worked for
[3:41] Speaker 1: Southwest for 30 years, which is really commendable. People don't
[3:44] Speaker 1: really work for companies, the same companies for that long
[3:47] Speaker 1: of a period of time, which is a testament to
[3:49] Speaker 1: her work ethic and her integrity and things like that.
[3:52] Speaker 1: How has Southwest been involved at all? Have they reached
[3:56] Speaker 1: out to the family? Do they reach out to her son?
[3:59] Speaker 1: What have they done?
[4:01] Speaker 2: Yeah, so they were really helpful getting Jenny home. And
[4:07] Speaker 2: were really great to the family. They celebrated her from
[4:10] Speaker 2: the moment she left Honolulu to, you know, when the
[4:13] Speaker 2: family arrived in Phoenix and they changed planes. And then
[4:18] Speaker 2: there was a tarmac full of people here in Oklahoma
[4:21] Speaker 2: City when she arrived home. They've, you know, they paid
[4:25] Speaker 2: for several family members to go and bring her home.
[4:28] Speaker 2: And they've checked in. And, you know, they've been good.
[4:31] Speaker 2: They've been good to the family.
[4:32] Speaker 4: And they've been....
[4:36] Speaker 2: It was nice seeing so many of her colleagues that
[4:39] Speaker 2: she had an impact on show up for her, not
[4:44] Speaker 2: only in Oklahoma City, but some of them came to
[4:45] Speaker 2: Phoenix as well to celebrate her when she was there.
[4:51] Speaker 2: And then the funeral, so many, they all turned out
[4:54] Speaker 2: in their uniforms. It was really great. So they've been
[4:57] Speaker 2: good to the family and stayed in touch and are
[5:01] Speaker 2: helping with what they can, but there's only so much
[5:03] Speaker 2: they can do too.
[5:04] Speaker 1: Right. Now, I believe the police are claiming that this
[5:09] Speaker 1: was a suicide, even though the investigation is ongoing. I
[5:12] Speaker 1: believe that's their initial takeaway, their initial thoughts that this
[5:17] Speaker 1: is a suicide. Were you having conversations with her around
[5:21] Speaker 1: this time? Do you recall her state of mind or
[5:25] Speaker 1: anything that would indicate that she was depressed or upset
[5:30] Speaker 1: or was having a hard time during this time period?
[5:34] Speaker 4: None of that.
[5:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, none of that. She was, you know, I mean,
[5:37] Speaker 2: I think both Jennifer and I have seen Jenny in
[5:39] Speaker 2: some pretty dark places over the years. You know, I mean,
[5:42] Speaker 2: she's had, you know, trials and tribulations like we all have,
[5:45] Speaker 2: but this was not one of those times. She was
[5:47] Speaker 2: doing great. Caleb was doing great. You know, work was
[5:51] Speaker 2: going well. Everything was on the up. And I just,
[5:56] Speaker 2: you'll never get me to believe that this was self-inflicted.
[6:00] Speaker 4: She just had so much that she was looking forward to, like,
[6:03] Speaker 4: Caleb was playing football on the same team as her
[6:06] Speaker 4: nephew for the first time. And high school football in
[6:09] Speaker 4: Oklahoma is a very big deal. And she was looking
[6:12] Speaker 4: forward to all of it. It just doesn't add up
[6:16] Speaker 4: at all.
[6:17] Speaker 3: You had mentioned that she had challenging times. Does that
[6:21] Speaker 3: mean she opened up to you when times were difficult?
[6:25] Speaker 4: She's an open book. Like she would always tell you everything.
[6:29] Speaker 4: Even if you didn't want to know, Jenny was going
[6:31] Speaker 4: to tell you the good, the bad, the ugly. And
[6:34] Speaker 4: she just wasn't in that place in her life at all.
[6:38] Speaker 3: Which makes it a little bit more concerning that it
[6:41] Speaker 3: was self-inflicted or that's claimed to be self-inflicted if she
[6:44] Speaker 3: was such an open book to you.
[6:45] Speaker 1: Right.
[6:46] Speaker 3: So it was a surprise.
[6:48] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[6:48] Speaker 2: We've learned nothing that she, you know, since she's passed
[6:52] Speaker 2: that not, you know, a handful of us, you know,
[6:54] Speaker 2: already knew about. I mean, she was somebody that I
[6:58] Speaker 2: always admired it about her because she was always so
[7:00] Speaker 2: vocal about her struggles and everything she was going through.
[7:03] Speaker 2: She never, she always felt like everything was going to
[7:06] Speaker 2: work out, you know, and she never let anything make
[7:09] Speaker 2: her feel shame or, you know, she never really internalized it.
[7:12] Speaker 2: She always, she was very good about talking it out,
[7:15] Speaker 2: reaching out for help.
[7:16] Speaker 1: Now, I just have to ask this. I know she
[7:18] Speaker 1: has one child. She has a 15 year old son.
[7:20] Speaker 1: I have two sons and I'm extremely close with them
[7:23] Speaker 1: and I feel like they're the light of my life.
[7:25] Speaker 1: So I can't fathom that someone, even let's say hypothetically,
[7:30] Speaker 1: she did decide to take her life for some reason
[7:34] Speaker 1: that night. Don't you feel as if there would have
[7:36] Speaker 1: been some type of reach out to her son, some
[7:40] Speaker 1: type of text, some type of letter, something that she
[7:43] Speaker 1: would have communicated with him if that were the case?
[7:48] Speaker 2: I do. I personally do. I think that, I mean, I,
[7:52] Speaker 2: you know, I, you'll just, she would just never leave them.
[7:54] Speaker 2: I mean, she just never would. I mean, I also
[7:58] Speaker 2: have boys, I have twin boys and, you know, especially
[8:01] Speaker 2: like being a single mom. I mean, you just would never,
[8:04] Speaker 2: I mean, they're your whole world, you know, and you don't,
[8:07] Speaker 2: you would never want to do anything to leave them,
[8:10] Speaker 2: you know, and that's actually one of my biggest fears
[8:12] Speaker 2: is to, you know, leave them. And, and I know
[8:15] Speaker 2: she felt the same way. And that I really do
[8:18] Speaker 2: feel like I mean, Jenny was always very big on
[8:20] Speaker 2: her correspondence. I feel like if there was anything like
[8:22] Speaker 2: that going on, you know, she would have somehow found
[8:24] Speaker 2: a way to communicate it to somebody. But I honestly
[8:28] Speaker 2: just don't. That would just never be the answer for her.
[8:32] Speaker 4: I mean, the thought of her leaving a note has
[8:35] Speaker 4: never even crossed my mind because in my mind, there's
[8:38] Speaker 4: no way she would have done this.
[8:39] Speaker 1: So you can't even go there. So your mind doesn't
[8:42] Speaker 1: even go to, I can't believe she wouldn't even leave
[8:44] Speaker 1: a note or communicate something because you're saying there's just
[8:46] Speaker 1: no way that this was self-inflicted.
[8:48] Speaker 2: No way.
[8:49] Speaker 1: Not at all. Do you, either one of you, can
[8:53] Speaker 1: you explain the layout of the hotel? I do believe
[8:56] Speaker 1: she had stayed there numerous times. Is that somewhere where
[8:59] Speaker 1: flight attendants stay when they're flying in and out of
[9:01] Speaker 1: that hub? Is that? you know, where pilots and flight
[9:04] Speaker 1: attendants go to stay. And what is the layout like
[9:08] Speaker 1: as far as the dumpster, the way she landed? What
[9:11] Speaker 1: is your takeaway from that?
[9:15] Speaker 2: So the Hilton Hawaiian Village, it's, you know, basically there's
[9:19] Speaker 2: various towers you can stay in. And I've never been there,
[9:22] Speaker 2: but I've seen the pictures and the family described it
[9:24] Speaker 2: to me. But she was in and, you know, and
[9:28] Speaker 2: I always thought, of it because they call it a resort.
[9:31] Speaker 2: I always thought of it as being like, you know,
[9:32] Speaker 2: you go into gates and here's all these towers and you,
[9:34] Speaker 2: you know, you're just restricted to the people that are
[9:37] Speaker 2: staying on the resort, but that's not how it is.
[9:39] Speaker 2: It's more of like just kind of disjointed hotels, you know,
[9:43] Speaker 2: it almost was like separate hotels. And so the hotel,
[9:47] Speaker 2: the tower she was staying in was the Kalia and it's,
[9:53] Speaker 2: you know, sort of tall, narrow, with inserts on the
[9:58] Speaker 2: side and the side where her room was on is
[10:00] Speaker 2: where the dumpster was below. But it's almost and I
[10:04] Speaker 2: you know, it's when you look at it in pictures,
[10:06] Speaker 2: it is very hard to determine or understand or comprehend
[10:11] Speaker 2: that she could have fallen in the way that they
[10:13] Speaker 2: said she fell. Just the placement of her room. the,
[10:17] Speaker 2: you know, just the trajectory that they're trying to say
[10:20] Speaker 2: that it happened, or at least that they were initially
[10:22] Speaker 2: saying it happened. And the way she would have had to,
[10:26] Speaker 2: you know, the little tiny opening she would have had
[10:28] Speaker 2: to have fallen through to land into a dumpster. It just,
[10:32] Speaker 2: none of it really makes sense to me. And, you know, I, yeah, I,
[10:38] Speaker 2: it's a very, and another thing that's very concerning too
[10:41] Speaker 2: is you know, anybody can get up into that tower.
[10:44] Speaker 2: You don't need a key card. I mean, you can
[10:45] Speaker 2: get up into those floors without a key card. You,
[10:48] Speaker 2: when you go up and the family was on her floor,
[10:50] Speaker 2: there's no cameras. The only cameras they found were in
[10:53] Speaker 2: the main elevator, like the main elevator bank in the lobby. So,
[10:58] Speaker 2: you know, I don't, I don't really, I mean, to me,
[11:01] Speaker 2: that is very concerning, you know, because it feels like
[11:05] Speaker 2: in that area, you should probably have a little bit
[11:07] Speaker 2: more security and cameras.
[11:08] Speaker 1: And Yeah, so that was one of my questions I
[11:11] Speaker 1: was going to ask you as far as the investigation
[11:13] Speaker 1: was concerned. I was going to ask, is there surveillance
[11:15] Speaker 1: video of her floor or the elevators on her floor?
[11:20] Speaker 1: So you're saying that there's none of that, that the
[11:23] Speaker 1: only place that there's surveillance video is on the lobby floor? Mm-hmm.
[11:28] Speaker 4: Wow.
[11:28] Speaker 2: Yeah, so from what the family could tell. And, you know,
[11:31] Speaker 2: and we obviously had... you know, people on socials commenting
[11:36] Speaker 2: and saying, you know, we've stayed there. There's no cameras
[11:38] Speaker 2: on that floor. There's no cameras on that elevator, you know,
[11:41] Speaker 2: in that tower. It's kind of like one of the
[11:44] Speaker 2: older towers, you know, so it's not as updated as
[11:46] Speaker 2: some of the others, which I think probably have a
[11:48] Speaker 2: little bit more security. But yeah, so they, you know,
[11:53] Speaker 2: so when the family went, they specifically, you know, went
[11:56] Speaker 2: into that tower without, you know, they were in a
[11:58] Speaker 2: different tower anyways, but they went there and were able
[12:02] Speaker 2: to go up without a key card and And then
[12:04] Speaker 2: walked along the hallway and we're videoing, you know, to
[12:06] Speaker 2: see if they could see any cameras and they didn't
[12:08] Speaker 2: see any at all. And then and you had mentioned
[12:13] Speaker 2: you had asked earlier about the flight attendants. They Southwest
[12:16] Speaker 2: usually puts them there, the Hilton Wine Village or the Alani.
[12:19] Speaker 2: So there's a few different hotels they usually stay at
[12:21] Speaker 2: in that area.
[12:30] Speaker 1: What about as far as the investigation is? I'm just
[12:32] Speaker 1: thinking because I've done so much true crime. Obviously, there's
[12:36] Speaker 1: the forensics of her cell phone. I don't know if
[12:40] Speaker 1: she wore an Apple watch, but you can always tell
[12:42] Speaker 1: if someone went upstairs or went downstairs if their heart
[12:45] Speaker 1: rate goes up or their heart rate goes down. Do
[12:48] Speaker 1: you know anything about that as far as if she
[12:50] Speaker 1: was communicating with anyone that night? Was she meeting someone?
[12:55] Speaker 1: Do you know anything? Or is that hush-hush on this investigation?
[13:00] Speaker 2: It's apparently hush hush. They still have her devices. And
[13:03] Speaker 2: I know when the family went to Hawaii to bring
[13:07] Speaker 2: Jenny home, they met with the detectives and the detectives
[13:10] Speaker 2: still at that point had not gone through her phone
[13:12] Speaker 2: or any of her devices. So they were hoping that's
[13:16] Speaker 2: been done now, but they won't even like let the
[13:19] Speaker 2: family know if it's been done or anything about it.
[13:21] Speaker 2: So we're hopeful that they, because she had an iPad
[13:24] Speaker 2: and an Apple watch and also her phone. So we're
[13:27] Speaker 2: hopeful that there's something on there that will give them
[13:29] Speaker 2: a clue that.
[13:30] Speaker 1: As to who she was communicating with, if there was anyone,
[13:32] Speaker 1: if she was meeting anyone. Obviously, we would know from
[13:35] Speaker 1: the cell phone, but you're saying there's been nothing divulged
[13:39] Speaker 1: as far as what's been found on her phone from
[13:41] Speaker 1: that evening.
[13:42] Speaker 2: Correct, yeah.
[13:44] Speaker 1: Are you a little suspicious of the hotel as far
[13:47] Speaker 1: as not having security footage? Do you think they're trying
[13:51] Speaker 1: to protect themselves? Or what's your thoughts on that?
[13:56] Speaker 2: You know, I don't, it's hard to.
[13:59] Speaker 2: To say because we've been given such little information, but
[14:05] Speaker 2: I do know that whatever surveillance footage there was, was
[14:11] Speaker 2: not handed over freely that had to be retrieved, that
[14:14] Speaker 2: had to be subpoenaed by HPD to get it. And
[14:17] Speaker 2: I don't know if that's standard, if that's typical process,
[14:22] Speaker 2: but it did really feel like initially at least to
[14:25] Speaker 2: the family that the Hilton wine village was kind of
[14:28] Speaker 2: driving the narrative and the investigation. And that could have been,
[14:32] Speaker 2: you know, one of two reasons because the day that
[14:35] Speaker 2: they found out was also, um, Hawaii day. It's like state,
[14:40] Speaker 2: the state day or something. So a lot of the
[14:42] Speaker 2: offices were closed, you know, the state offices were closed. And, um,
[14:47] Speaker 2: so they initially spoke to the head of security at
[14:51] Speaker 2: the Hilton wine village. And so it really felt like
[14:55] Speaker 2: that's where they got, uh, a bunch of information from
[14:58] Speaker 2: that really, you know, gave him the impression that this
[15:00] Speaker 2: was being considered or treated like a suicide.
[15:03] Speaker 1: Now who found her? Who initially found her body?
[15:08] Speaker 2: So from what we were told, it was one of,
[15:10] Speaker 2: it was either, it was like a grounds worker. It
[15:12] Speaker 2: was basically somebody that was working in that area. That
[15:15] Speaker 2: dumpster that she fell into, it's not like a normal
[15:19] Speaker 2: trash dumpster. It's for like foliage and leaves. And, you know,
[15:22] Speaker 2: when they're doing cleanup around. And so, somebody that was
[15:27] Speaker 2: in that area is the one that discovered her.
[15:29] Speaker 1: You know, there's been another mysterious death on that same Island.
[15:33] Speaker 1: So there was 51 year old Shannon Bartholomew was also
[15:35] Speaker 1: found in a canal was found in a canal. And
[15:38] Speaker 1: you've been in contact with her family. Do you believe
[15:41] Speaker 1: that there's similarities between the two deaths? What has it
[15:44] Speaker 1: been like to speak to that family?
[15:45] Speaker 2: So it was actually Elizabeth Nolan's family that we were,
[15:48] Speaker 2: she was another one too. There's been several.
[15:51] Speaker 1: Oh, so there's more besides the Shannon Bartholomew. There's an
[15:53] Speaker 1: Elizabeth Nolan. Is that what you said?
[15:55] Speaker 2: And another named Brianna Charlie, too, that we have in
[15:59] Speaker 2: our family. But Elizabeth Nolan, she was the most recent.
[16:02] Speaker 2: So she died in 2025, similar situation, found in a trash,
[16:10] Speaker 2: like a dumpster, but it was through a trash chute, basically.
[16:15] Speaker 2: The family felt like, or at least hoped, that law
[16:20] Speaker 2: enforcement was going to be doing their job and investigating
[16:24] Speaker 2: this properly. but come to find out, um, there wasn't
[16:28] Speaker 2: really much of an investigation done once they got the
[16:30] Speaker 2: police reports and, um, had, you know, they realized that, um,
[16:35] Speaker 2: the cause of death, the death certificate was updated or
[16:39] Speaker 2: the autopsy report was updated by 8 AM the next
[16:43] Speaker 2: day saying it was suicide and prior to doing any
[16:47] Speaker 2: kind of investigative work.
[16:49] Speaker 4: Wow.
[16:50] Speaker 1: Um, I read here that Jenny's family did ask for
[16:54] Speaker 1: a full autopsy and a rape kit to be done,
[16:57] Speaker 1: but there was pushback. See, that makes no sense to me.
[17:01] Speaker 1: I feel like that would be standard in any investigation,
[17:04] Speaker 1: that when you find someone in a dumpster, that those
[17:08] Speaker 1: would be standard type of investigating that you would do
[17:10] Speaker 1: immediately to figure out if there was any foul play,
[17:12] Speaker 1: if there had been some type of sexual activity, if
[17:15] Speaker 1: there was a rape that occurred. But do you know
[17:18] Speaker 1: if those have happened or they're just pushing back on that?
[17:23] Speaker 2: They did do them, but it did take quite a
[17:25] Speaker 2: bit of asking and demanding from the family. But I
[17:29] Speaker 2: guess that's all. I mean, nothing, they've given us no,
[17:33] Speaker 2: you know, results of her autopsy at all. And said
[17:37] Speaker 2: the toxicology obviously takes, you know, can take like four
[17:40] Speaker 2: to eight weeks or something. So that, but honestly, you know,
[17:45] Speaker 2: we're not sure. even sure how much information we'll get
[17:49] Speaker 2: from that, you know, if they're keeping the rest of
[17:51] Speaker 2: the investigation, you know, hush hush. So I don't know.
[17:55] Speaker 1: So do you know, so there were, you don't know
[17:57] Speaker 1: if there was any results from a rape kit as well.
[17:59] Speaker 1: So nothing, the family doesn't have any information on that
[18:03] Speaker 1: as well. Angela, you've mentioned that Jenny was part of
[18:08] Speaker 1: Cherokee nation and Savannah's act as a bipartisan effort to
[18:11] Speaker 1: improve the federal response to missing or murdered indigenous persons.
[18:15] Speaker 1: How are you hoping this act helps your effort in
[18:18] Speaker 1: investigating Jenny's death properly? Have they gotten involved in this
[18:23] Speaker 1: investigation at all?
[18:25] Speaker 2: So Teresa has reached out, Jenny's sister has reached out
[18:28] Speaker 2: to the tribe and filed the appropriate paperwork and has
[18:33] Speaker 2: been talking to them. What we're hopeful is that the
[18:36] Speaker 2: Cherokee Nation, they're either attorney general or their investigative team
[18:43] Speaker 2: will then be able to you know, have some sort
[18:46] Speaker 2: of open communication because of this law with the Honolulu PD,
[18:50] Speaker 2: you know, to ensure that it's being properly handled. And,
[18:54] Speaker 2: you know, initially we really felt like they were treating
[18:58] Speaker 2: this as a suicide. And quite honestly, until our attorney
[19:03] Speaker 2: general called and, you know, let them know that he
[19:07] Speaker 2: had eyes on this as well. Our attorney general here
[19:10] Speaker 2: in Oklahoma called their attorney general and I don't know
[19:13] Speaker 2: that they were going to treat it any other way.
[19:16] Speaker 2: So it really took that. And we feel like that
[19:19] Speaker 2: if there's not more involvement and more eyes on the
[19:23] Speaker 2: investigation as it goes, then, you know, it could end
[19:25] Speaker 2: up being the same throughout.
[19:28] Speaker 1: Now, what do you think actually happened that night? Do
[19:30] Speaker 1: you think that she actually did fall from the balcony
[19:33] Speaker 1: and land in the dumpster? Or do you think something
[19:35] Speaker 1: happened to her and then she was placed into the dumpster?
[19:40] Speaker 2: You know, I go back and forth. I mean, I
[19:42] Speaker 2: feel like, you know, sometimes I look at the pictures
[19:47] Speaker 2: and I think, goodness, you know, it really appears to
[19:51] Speaker 2: me like somebody did this to her, maybe threw her
[19:53] Speaker 2: in from the pool deck or, you know, there's just
[19:56] Speaker 2: so many other areas that looks like it would be
[19:58] Speaker 2: easier or more logical that she would lay into that dumpster.
[20:01] Speaker 2: But then, you know, I go back to to the
[20:07] Speaker 2: fact that she was also found in the same clothes
[20:11] Speaker 2: that she had on the night before. I mean, you know,
[20:14] Speaker 2: we get back. We're back to our room for the night.
[20:18] Speaker 2: We're changing clothes. We're not keeping on our uncomfortable jean
[20:20] Speaker 2: shorts and our tight shirt. You know, I mean, like, right.
[20:22] Speaker 1: That's exactly when you said that. That's what I was thinking.
[20:24] Speaker 1: The minute I walk through the door, I'm like the
[20:26] Speaker 1: bras unhooked. The you know, the dress is off. The
[20:29] Speaker 1: heels are off.
[20:30] Speaker 2: Absolutely. First thing we do. And, you know, so she
[20:33] Speaker 2: was she had that same outfit on because she was
[20:36] Speaker 2: either leaving again or someone was coming to her room,
[20:39] Speaker 2: you know, that. And so there's so many different possibilities.
[20:44] Speaker 2: And one thing that they did tell the family is
[20:47] Speaker 2: that the furniture on the balcony was in the place
[20:53] Speaker 2: when they went to her room, you know, and investigated
[20:56] Speaker 2: furniture on the balcony was in the place where it
[20:57] Speaker 2: always is. It was not moved. So to me, that.
[21:01] Speaker 2: is an indication right there that this can be self-inflicted.
[21:03] Speaker 2: I mean, she was five two. How is she doing this?
[21:06] Speaker 2: You know, if she's not got something pushed up against
[21:08] Speaker 2: that railing to climb over. But, you know, they, they
[21:13] Speaker 2: also said that it appeared to them that her bed
[21:15] Speaker 2: was not slept in. So, or the words they used were,
[21:20] Speaker 2: was untouched. So what is she doing in there? If
[21:24] Speaker 2: they didn't find her until five 30 in the morning
[21:26] Speaker 2: and that's around the time they think it happened, she
[21:28] Speaker 2: wasn't just standing in her room for, Yeah.
[21:31] Speaker 1: You're right. That doesn't make any sense. She obviously wasn't
[21:33] Speaker 1: just dancing around in her room all night. You would
[21:37] Speaker 1: have laid down on the bed. You would have thrown
[21:40] Speaker 1: the pillows off at least or put the covers over you.
[21:43] Speaker 4: And the chances of it actually land in the dumpster,
[21:46] Speaker 4: whether somebody threw you or you jumped, are so small.
[21:51] Speaker 4: I mean, like, it's almost impossible that that would happen
[21:55] Speaker 4: from the 24th floor. Mm-hmm.
[21:57] Speaker 1: You know, I was thinking that, too, that the likelihood
[22:01] Speaker 1: of her going over and landing in it is crazy.
[22:03] Speaker 4: Virtually impossible.
[22:06] Speaker 1: So then do you believe that it happened somewhere else
[22:09] Speaker 1: and that not from her room, like she was something
[22:12] Speaker 1: happened to her while she was out and then she
[22:14] Speaker 1: was put into the dumpster?
[22:17] Speaker 2: In my mind, I visualize that.
[22:19] Speaker 4: That's why I would love to see footage of her.
[22:23] Speaker 4: Did she get on the elevator to go up to
[22:25] Speaker 4: her room ever? Did she make it to her room
[22:28] Speaker 4: that night at all? Did anyone use the key card
[22:31] Speaker 4: to go in?
[22:33] Speaker 1: Any of that.
[22:34] Speaker 4: But we don't have any of that information.
[22:35] Speaker 1: The hotel should have that data, right? Because we've talked
[22:37] Speaker 1: about several cases even on the cruise ships where they
[22:40] Speaker 1: know who goes in and out because you have a
[22:42] Speaker 1: key card that lets you in and out. They have
[22:43] Speaker 1: a whole... log as to the exact times that people
[22:46] Speaker 1: enter and exit so has that information not even been
[22:49] Speaker 1: given to the family as far as when her key
[22:51] Speaker 1: card was used to go in and.
[22:53] Speaker 2: Out yeah no they've given us absolutely nothing um and
[22:59] Speaker 2: you know and we're not sure if that's standard you
[23:01] Speaker 2: know or if that is um something that you know
[23:04] Speaker 2: we should at least be giving be given a high
[23:07] Speaker 2: level you know of information like it just a they
[23:10] Speaker 2: don't even know you know we were talking the other
[23:12] Speaker 2: day about What time was 911 called? You know, what
[23:16] Speaker 2: was that called? What was said? What time did, you know,
[23:19] Speaker 2: first responders arrive? What time did the medical examiner arrive?
[23:22] Speaker 2: And they wouldn't give them any of that either. That
[23:24] Speaker 2: seems like pretty basic information, you know. I don't know
[23:29] Speaker 2: personally how that would impede an investigation if it were told.
[23:32] Speaker 2: So it just feels very, you know, they did her
[23:38] Speaker 2: autopsy on August 25th. So. I believe that was the
[23:43] Speaker 2: Tuesday of the following week. And during that autopsy, they
[23:47] Speaker 2: gave the Honolulu PD their Jenny's code to her phone
[23:50] Speaker 2: because her son had it. And the family was not
[23:53] Speaker 2: there until, let's see, she came back to Oklahoma City
[23:58] Speaker 2: on the 10th. So it was the 9th when they
[24:00] Speaker 2: met with Honolulu PD, the detectives. And they still hadn't
[24:04] Speaker 2: been in her phone, but they had her passcode that
[24:07] Speaker 2: entire time, like To me, I don't know, I'm, you know,
[24:10] Speaker 2: not law enforcement, but I feel like that's one of
[24:12] Speaker 2: the places you start, you know, especially when somebody is
[24:14] Speaker 2: alone or it's an unattended death, whatever that means, you know,
[24:18] Speaker 2: but it just didn't give me a whole lot of
[24:22] Speaker 2: reassurance that this is being handled properly. Yeah.
[24:33] Speaker 1: So as far as her autopsy, was the final report
[24:38] Speaker 1: from the medical examiner, does it say officially suicide or
[24:41] Speaker 1: is there just no determination at this point?
[24:44] Speaker 2: It says pending. Pending.
[24:46] Speaker 1: Okay. Well, the question is, is there really an investigation
[24:49] Speaker 1: going on? And I don't know. My takeaway from the
[24:52] Speaker 1: conversation with you and the little bit that we talked
[24:53] Speaker 1: about before when we talked about this case previously is,
[24:56] Speaker 1: is this a A problem, like, because we're talking about
[25:01] Speaker 1: a high tourist area, we're talking about a hotel, we're
[25:03] Speaker 1: talking about Hawaii.
[25:04] Speaker 3: That was going to be my question, was just like
[25:06] Speaker 3: the movie Jaws, you know, they didn't want to alarm
[25:08] Speaker 3: anyone that Jaws was around, right? It's the Fourth of
[25:12] Speaker 3: July weekend. They don't want to disrupt the tourists. This
[25:14] Speaker 3: is a big, important thing for our island. I didn't
[25:17] Speaker 3: know if Hawaii kind of has the same thing. Hey,
[25:19] Speaker 3: we don't want to run around and say that people
[25:22] Speaker 3: are getting thrown off buildings or murdered or whatever, and
[25:25] Speaker 3: then they stop coming.
[25:26] Speaker 1: Right. I mean, that would be my takeaway is that
[25:29] Speaker 1: a lot of this information isn't given and isn't out
[25:33] Speaker 1: there publicly. And just because they want to downplay that
[25:37] Speaker 1: there's anything going on wrong in this area, they want
[25:40] Speaker 1: the tourists to continue to come. And if you hear
[25:43] Speaker 1: about a death of a young woman, a single mom.
[25:47] Speaker 3: Possibly repeated deaths.
[25:49] Speaker 1: Repeated deaths, then you're not going to want to go
[25:51] Speaker 1: to this destination. Correct.
[25:53] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[25:53] Speaker 2: Yeah. I've had that feeling as well, just based on
[25:56] Speaker 2: some of these other cases we've heard about that, you know,
[25:59] Speaker 2: I mean, for instance, you know, the one that I
[26:01] Speaker 2: mentioned a second ago, Elizabeth Nolan, you know, she, 72
[26:05] Speaker 2: years old, found nude in a dumpster that she would
[26:10] Speaker 2: have had to have crawled up into a trash chute,
[26:12] Speaker 2: sent herself down the trash chute to then end her
[26:15] Speaker 2: life in this dumpster, completely nude. So she would have
[26:20] Speaker 2: had to walk down the condo hallway, you know.
[26:22] Speaker 1: And this was ruled a suicide? Suicide.
[26:25] Speaker 2: And she was there. And she had just purchased a
[26:30] Speaker 2: very expensive Hermes dress that her daughters were telling us
[26:33] Speaker 2: about that she had planned to go to this birthday
[26:36] Speaker 2: party in a few days. And she was from Canada,
[26:40] Speaker 2: but she would stay in Hawaii for six months out
[26:42] Speaker 2: of the year. It was her favorite place. And she
[26:44] Speaker 2: was there with her fiance. He wasn't investigated, according to
[26:48] Speaker 2: her daughters. He was just his word was taken, you know,
[26:52] Speaker 2: and they moved along. Isn't that the first place you look?
[26:56] Speaker 2: I mean, isn't that very suspicious that, you know, you're
[26:59] Speaker 2: there with a fiance that, you know, was the last
[27:02] Speaker 2: person to see you alive, but he's just gets to
[27:04] Speaker 2: tell you the narrative and you believe it. To me,
[27:06] Speaker 2: it just doesn't feel.
[27:08] Speaker 1: Well, none of that makes sense. I don't know. I mean,
[27:09] Speaker 1: I don't know a lot about suicide statistics, but I
[27:11] Speaker 1: don't really feel like people get naked and get in
[27:14] Speaker 1: dumpsters when they commit suicide. No, not, I mean, no.
[27:19] Speaker 4: I'm like, that doesn't even seem like a sure way
[27:21] Speaker 4: to do it. Like, who would do that?
[27:22] Speaker 2: I don't know.
[27:23] Speaker 1: That just seems like that's a screams foul play to me.
[27:25] Speaker 1: And why there wasn't more of an investigation doesn't make
[27:29] Speaker 1: any sense at all. So it's so common that online
[27:31] Speaker 1: sleuths solve crimes or at least find information that others
[27:34] Speaker 1: may have missed. Do you guys have hope that just
[27:38] Speaker 1: talking about it and putting this information out there can
[27:41] Speaker 1: help bring light to your case and help solve this
[27:44] Speaker 1: alleged crime?
[27:45] Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely. Of course. I mean, it seems like somebody
[27:49] Speaker 4: would have maybe seen something, you know? I mean, Jenny
[27:53] Speaker 4: had a very recognizable face, like always smiling, big dimples. Like,
[27:59] Speaker 4: like she was a memorable person. It just seems like
[28:03] Speaker 4: somebody would have had to see something or hear something.
[28:07] Speaker 4: I mean, even if she did fall into the dumpster,
[28:10] Speaker 4: I'm sure it made some noise, you know? Um, So
[28:15] Speaker 4: just hopefully we can get just as many people like
[28:20] Speaker 4: thinking about it and not forgetting that this is a
[28:23] Speaker 4: single mom who is no longer here and was very
[28:28] Speaker 4: loved and just there's no way she would have done this.
[28:31] Speaker 4: We need to figure out what happened. Exactly.
[28:33] Speaker 1: Exactly.
[28:34] Speaker 4: All right.
[28:34] Speaker 1: Well, thank you guys so much for joining us today
[28:36] Speaker 1: and for talking about Jenny. Obviously, our listeners out there,
[28:39] Speaker 1: if anybody's in Hawaii or is familiar with this hotel
[28:42] Speaker 1: or knows anyone or has any information, we would love
[28:45] Speaker 1: for you guys to come forward and send me a
[28:47] Speaker 1: message on Instagram so that we can help get Jenny's
[28:50] Speaker 1: case out there and get the information that the family
[28:53] Speaker 1: needs in order to get to the bottom of what
[28:56] Speaker 1: really happened to Jenny Lupton. So thank you both for
[28:59] Speaker 1: being her friends and also for joining us today on
[29:01] Speaker 1: Legally Brunette. We really appreciate it.
[29:03] Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
[29:05] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[29:05] Speaker 4: All right.
[29:06] Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on this case? To me, this
[29:09] Speaker 1: case just screams foul play.
[29:10] Speaker 3: It doesn't feel like law enforcement is going to do much.
[29:14] Speaker 4: I know.
[29:14] Speaker 1: It almost feels like there's just some good old boy
[29:18] Speaker 1: standard in Hawaii that it's like when there's something suspicious
[29:21] Speaker 1: that happens, we don't want to mess with the tourists
[29:24] Speaker 1: and we don't want to mess with the tourist money
[29:26] Speaker 1: coming in. So we can't put out there that there's
[29:29] Speaker 1: women getting harmed.
[29:31] Speaker 2: Right.
[29:31] Speaker 3: You don't want it to be there's a serial killer
[29:34] Speaker 3: on the loose.
[29:34] Speaker 1: Or there's the women being harmed.
[29:35] Speaker 2: Right.
[29:36] Speaker 3: Like every month there's a new murder in a hotel
[29:38] Speaker 3: of all places, right, where tourists get killed.
[29:40] Speaker 1: Right.
[29:41] Speaker 2: So.
[29:41] Speaker 4: I don't know.
[29:41] Speaker 1: It just seems to me when you find a woman
[29:44] Speaker 1: in a dumpster, that's suspicious in and of itself. Yeah.
[29:51] Speaker 1: I mean, even if she did jump, the chances of
[29:55] Speaker 1: her landing in the dumpster are.
[29:57] Speaker 3: And he said it was 24 stories?
[29:58] Speaker 4: Yes.
[30:00] Speaker 1: And are there no witnesses? Did no one see this woman?
[30:02] Speaker 1: Did anyone? I mean, people are out and about all
[30:04] Speaker 1: times of the night. People are on their balconies. This
[30:07] Speaker 1: is a huge hotel. I mean, anytime we just went
[30:09] Speaker 1: to the Bahamas and anytime I was out on the balcony,
[30:12] Speaker 1: you could see lots of other people on the balcony.
[30:14] Speaker 1: There's people below. There's people in the pool. Even if
[30:17] Speaker 1: it's late night or early morning, there's always activity and
[30:20] Speaker 1: things going on. There's always people around. There's always maintenance
[30:23] Speaker 1: and workers and all the things. So I don't understand
[30:26] Speaker 1: how something like that, let's say, for example, for just hypothetically,
[30:30] Speaker 1: she did go over the balcony. And then she did
[30:32] Speaker 1: land in the dumpster. Can you imagine the noise that
[30:34] Speaker 1: would have made? I mean, she flew 24 hours.
[30:36] Speaker 3: And then the autopsy report should show a significant amount
[30:39] Speaker 3: of body damage.
[30:40] Speaker 4: Right.
[30:40] Speaker 1: And it shouldn't just be blunt force trauma to the head.
[30:42] Speaker 4: No.
[30:42] Speaker 1: It should be damage.
[30:44] Speaker 3: To all the limbs, the torso.
[30:46] Speaker 1: So what is that? What does the autopsy report look like?
[30:49] Speaker 1: What does the rape kit look like? Did she meet someone?
[30:52] Speaker 3: I bet you could go up to the 24th floor
[30:55] Speaker 3: and chuck a basketball off of there or a baseball
[30:58] Speaker 3: and still not get it in there.
[31:00] Speaker 1: Probably not. And why is this? So much time has
[31:03] Speaker 1: gone by and the family doesn't have any answers as
[31:05] Speaker 1: far as the medical examination. Where are the injuries? Was
[31:09] Speaker 1: it just to the head? Was it to the full body?
[31:11] Speaker 1: What is the result of a rape kid? Who was
[31:13] Speaker 1: she meeting that night? There's got to be video surveillance
[31:16] Speaker 1: from the bars that she went to. Do we know
[31:17] Speaker 1: who she was talking to? Did she talk to some
[31:19] Speaker 1: man in the bar? What about the key card going
[31:22] Speaker 1: in and out of the hotel?
[31:23] Speaker 3: None of that matters if you're trying to sweep it
[31:25] Speaker 3: under the rug.
[31:25] Speaker 1: I know, but I want to investigate this crime. I
[31:27] Speaker 1: want to take a legally brunette field trip. We can
[31:30] Speaker 1: put together an investigative team. Anyone out there interested, we
[31:34] Speaker 1: can take a trip to Hawaii. We're going to stay
[31:35] Speaker 1: in this hotel. We're going to get the key card
[31:38] Speaker 1: in and out entry. I'm going to follow around the
[31:41] Speaker 1: hotel manager until I get the information that I want.
[31:43] Speaker 1: We're going to look at the dumpster. We're going to
[31:45] Speaker 1: look at the balcony. We're going to figure it out.
[31:47] Speaker 1: We're going to solve this crime. Let me know. All right, guys.
[31:50] Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Lele Brunette. If
[31:52] Speaker 1: you know anything about this case, you live in Hawaii,
[31:55] Speaker 1: you've heard about it, you've seen anything, please find me
[31:57] Speaker 1: on Instagram and let me know. Jenny Lupton deserves to
[32:01] Speaker 1: have a full thorough investigation as to what happened to
[32:04] Speaker 1: her her family and her son deserve that so thank
[32:07] Speaker 1: you guys for listening if you have any information let
[32:09] Speaker 1: me know as always please follow legally brunette wherever you
[32:13] Speaker 1: listen to podcasts and if you have any other recommendations
[32:16] Speaker 1: of cases you would like us to investigate or talk
[32:20] Speaker 1: about please let me know on instagram thank you guys
[32:23] Speaker 1: so much for listening we appreciate you

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