A concerned worker went to the upscale Milwaukie, Oregon, home of his absent boss, Jimmy Pearson, to check on him — and found him naked and dead in his bedroom on March 3, 2021.

“There was a really pungent smell of decomposition, so we knew he had been dead for several days,” Clackamas County Sheriff’s Detective Esteban Gaytan told Snapped, airing Sundays at 6/5c p.m. on Oxygen.  

Pearson, 62, a local pawn dealer, had a bullet wound in the back of his head, and no weapon was recovered. The scene indicated he’d been murdered and robbed in his sprawling riverfront mansion. 

Investigators learned that Pearson had fallen out with his daughters, Tawnya and Sarah, so much so, that he’d changed his will.

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Bill Terway said that Pearson’s daughters disapproved of the women in his life and viewed them “potentially as escorts.” 

Autopsy, text messages, and security camera give clues in Jimmy Pearson’s killing

The medical examiner determined that Pearson had been shot once in the back of the head with a .38-caliber firearm.

Detectives gained access to Pearson’s cell phone and Ring camera app and discovered that his last text was to a contact listed as “Paris Royal Nitasha.”

“It looked as if he had engaged with somebody to essentially set up a date,” Clackamas Sheriff’s Detective Michael Zacher told Snapped.

The plans were transactional. Terway said, “Those messages were very clearly talking about money and them getting together and exchanging money for the time they spent together.”

Detectives determined via the phone number that the contact’s real name was Nistasha Rose Tate, and also learned what she looked like.

The Ring-camera video showed Tate arrive at Pearson’s residence early in the morning of March 1 with a duffel bag. Two hours later, she carried away more than what she had when she arrived there. 

“She makes several trips carrying bags and boxes to her vehicle,” Det. Gaytan said.

Gun was found in Nistasha Rose Tate’s car

Detectives learned that after leaving Pearson’s home, Tate was pulled over in a routine traffic stop. At this time, a revolver handgun was “sitting in plain view” on the passenger seat, Det. Zacher explained.

The firearm was seized and placed into evidence by Milwaukee Police. Tate was not detained further. The gun was later found to match the one used to kill Pearson.

Nistasha Rose Tate becomes the prime suspect

Following the traffic stop, Tate fled Oregon. Information from her social media pages led police to her mother, who shared that her daughter had fallen into prostitution at a young age. 

Detectives also learned that shortly before Pearson’s death, Tate stated on social media that she was looking for a gun and help with a big “lick” — slang for a big score. 

“The picture is becoming much more crystal clear that this was a planned event,” Terway said.

Nistasha Rose Tate tracked and arrested

To aid in their search for Tate, detectives enlisted U.S. Marshals, social media, and sources close to her, including her mother. Her trail led from Oregon to North Carolina to Florida.

On April 12, 2021, Tate was arrested near Tampa Bay in Florida for first-degree robbery and second-degree murder and later brought back to Oregon. 

In December of 2021, Tate pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Pearson’s family agreed to the deal provided Tate gave a statement of what happened. 

She claimed that as she was giving Pearson a massage, she’d pulled a gun from her bag. He moved and it went off, Pearson’s ex-wife Sandra Pearson told Snapped. 

Prosecutor Bryan Brock didn’t buy that. “It’s not an accident. It’s something that was motivated by money and greed,” he told Snapped.

Tate was sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole after 25 years. 

Snapped airs on Sundays at 6/5c p.m. on Oxygen.