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ONLINE bullying, unrequited love, and a shocking catfish twist all came together in a small Tennessee town, with devastating consequences.
The shooting deaths of Billy Payne and his girlfriend, Billie Jean Hayworth, and the convoluted investigation against their alleged killers, are the focus of an ABC 20/20 true crime exposé, Am I Next? airing on Friday, April 5, 2024, at 9 pm ET and available to stream exclusively on Hulu.
What happened to Billy Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth?
Billy Payne, 36, and Billie Jean Hayworth, 23, were the targets of a horrific shooting that ultimately left the couple dead.
The Tennessee couple lived together with their infant son, who was just seven months old at the time of their deaths.
On January 31, 2012, a friend of the couple found them dead in their home.
Both Billy and Billie had a single gunshot wound to their face.
Billy’s throat had also been slashed as he laid in bed.
In a heartbreaking twist, Billie had been cradling the couple’s son in her arms when she died.
“It takes a cold-blooded person to shoot someone holding a baby,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Scott Lott told 20/20, as reported by ABC News.
Police immediately began investigating the murders, and quickly zeroed in on their prime suspects, Jenelle Potter and her parents, Marvin and Barbara Potter.
“Because we knew that they had trouble with [the murder victims, Hayworth and Payne],” Chief Deputy Joe Woodard of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department said.
On February 1, 2012, just one day after the double homicide, Chief Woodard interviewed – and recorded – a conversation with Jenelle, Barbara, and Marvin at their home.
Who killed them?
The Potter family moved to Mountain City, Tennessee, in 2005, and Jenelle reportedly struggled to fit in.
“’Cause I wasn’t born and raised here. I didn’t grow up here,” Potter told 20/20.
“People here do not like outsiders,” she added.
Marvin Potter, also known as Buddy, was a former US Marine who had served in Vietnam.
Marvin’s wife, Barbara, worked at Hewlett-Packard.
The couple’s daughter, Jenelle, didn’t have a job, couldn’t drive, and had a slew of health problems, including Type 1 diabetes, which kept her homebound for the majority of her teen years.
Struggling to make friends, she turned to social media as an escape, regularly posting on Facebook.
A few years into her move, Jenelle, now in her 20s, befriended Tracy Greenwell, a pharmacy clerk, while picking up her prescriptions.
“We felt sorry for Jenelle because she was sheltered and sick and stuff,” Greenwell told 20/20.
Jenelle started spending time with Tracy and her friends, including Tracy’s brother, Billy Payne.
Tracy also introduced Jenelle to her cousin, Jamie Curd, and the duo began dating.
They hid their relationship from Jenelle’s “strict” parents, and Curd, a so-called computer whiz, would visit Jenelle’s home under the guise of fixing the family computer.
Despite finally having friends, anonymous comments began appearing on Jenelle’s Facebook page, and the relentless bullying got to her and her family.
“I was a bad person. I was horrible. [They] threatened to get [me] raped,” Jenelle recalled the comments saying.
Jenelle suspected that Billie Jean Hayworth, Billy Payne’s girlfriend, was the one behind the cyber bullying.
She figured Billie was jealous of her looks, and her growing friendship with Billy Payne.
“Everybody says [Jenelle] fell in love with Bill, but I still don’t see that,” recalls Tracy Greenwell.
Finally, the trio ended up “unfriending” one another from social media.
“I think that we did it to each other. I unfriended them. They unfriended me,” Jenelle said.
“I did Bill first and then I think Billie did me. And I unfriended her.”
Unfortunately, the drama didn’t end there.
During the interview with Chief Woodard, Jenelle attempted to [continue to] hide her relationship with Jamie Curd from her parents.
Police later brought Curd in for a polygraph test, where he lied about knowing the identity of Billy and Billie’s killer.
Police then made a major breakthrough in the case after Curd made an off-handed comment, questioning if the CIA was investigating the murders.
Curd revealed he had been texting with a CIA officer, Chris, and that it was his job and responsibility to “protect Jenelle at all costs.”
After hours of interrogation, Curd finally told police Marvin, Jenelle’s father, was the one responsible for the horrific crimes.
Police arrested Marvin, and despite Marvin “admitting” he committed the murders to his wife, Barbara, some things just didn’t add up.
“When they took him, they took no oxygen. They took no medication. And they interviewed him for hours,” Barbara told 20/20.
“When his oxygen gets low, he says things that don’t make sense or are incorrect,” she added.
While questioning Marvin, police executed a search warrant on the Potter family home.
They found multiple weapons – though not the murder weapon – along with printed photos of the victims.
They also seized the family computer and reconstructed more than 100 pages of emails from bags of shredded documents.
Police discovered incriminating text messages between Jenelle and Curd, which implicated Jenelle as being involved in prepping the murders.
Investigators found that “Chris” the “CIA Agent” had been communicating with Barbara and Marvin, warning them about the threats made towards Jenelle.
They also discovered that all emails from Chris came from the Potter family’s home.
“Social media allowed Jenelle Potter to be someone that she wasn’t… She invented Chris,” prosecutor Dennis Brooks said.
“She could assume a different identity and be as hateful as she wanted to be,” he added.
Prosecutors concluded that Jenelle had fooled her parents – and boyfriend – with her catfishing attempt, which led Marvin to shoot Billie and Billy.
Where are Marvin, Jenelle, and Barbara Potter now?
In August 2013, Jenelle and Barbara were both arrested for the murders of Billy and Billie.
In October 2013, Marvin was found guilty for the murders, and is currently serving two life sentences.
Jamie Curd eventually agreed to a plea deal, and is serving out his 25-years-long prison sentence.
In May 2015, both Jenelle and Barbara went on trial.
Just one week into the joint trial, the jury found both Potters guilty of first-degree murder.
The mother-daughter duo were both sentenced to life in prison.
On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, all three members of the Potter family appeared at the Washington County Criminal Court.
The post-conviction hearing marked the first time any of the Potters testified before a judge.
Marvin confessed to the murders for the first time in front of a judge and his family.
“Right now, her [Barbara] and my daughter both know I did this,” he admitted, as reported by WJHL, News Channel 11.
Marvin said he killed Billy Payne, while his accomplice – and Jenelle’s boyfriend at the time – Jamie Curd, killed his girlfriend, Billie Jean Hayworth.
Both Barbara and Jenelle are asking for new trials, but Deputy District Attorney General Dennis Brooks says he does not see the need.
“Jenelle Potter and also through her mother had inflamed Buddy Potter to the point where he would commit such a heinous act,” Brooks said.
Today, all three members of the Potter family remain behind bars.
Marvin is currently incarcerated at the closed, mixed-security Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Hickman County, Tennessee.
Barbara is imprisoned at the Debra Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, Tennessee, but is eligible for parole in June 2028, five years before her sentence ends in 2033.
Jenelle is also serving out her sentence at the Debra Johnson Rehabilitation Center, with her sentence scheduled to end on March 8, 2069.
