ABC News

'She Could Have Gone Anywhere She Wanted to'

Jennifer Servo, 22, Was Strangled and Bludgeoned to Death in Her Texas Apartment

Police say the two men's reactions to the news of her death were completely different. According to Bell, Sepulveda was very controlled and never asked how Servo had been murdered. Travers, by contrast, was very distraught.

The Investigation

Police won't go into specifics, but the DNA of both Sepulveda and Travers was found in the apartment. However, Sgt. John Reid of the Abilene Police Department points out that, "if someone that has business in the apartment, has been there, invited several times in the past … if their DNA shows up in the apartment, it really doesn't mean a whole lot."

Travers hired a lawyer almost immediately and cooperated fully, although he didn't mention the suspicious car incident for several days. Sepulveda, who also cooperated initially with police, eventually stopped talking to police and moved away.

Forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner cautions that no behavior is "normal" when someone close has been murdered. "It's so easy for a forensic psychiatrist like myself to say, well, you're not supposed to act that way when someone that you knew well was murdered. How many of us know what it's like to be a murder suspect? Very few. Do they go get a lawyer? Sometimes. Do they run? Do they clam up? Sometimes."

Police had not ruled out other persons of interest, including the possibility of a stalker. According to colleague Loren, Servo had shown her an article about newscasters who had been stalked just the week before her death, but some friends were troubled by the story of the mysterious car.

If Servo and Travers had seen someone following them, would she really have been so blase about walking to her car alone and then driving back to her empty apartment?

Riordan says that doesn't sound like her friend. "I was told that they were being followed by some car and that he offered to walk her and that she said, 'don't worry about that.' And to me that was not the truth if it was the same Jen that we knew."

Travers says that's what happened and that her car was parked right at the bottom of the stairs to his apartment and that you could see her car from that vantage point.

Police say that Travers has not been completely excluded, but that he has "moved down a little bit on the list of potentials in this case, just because of the cooperation level and everything that we've gone through the investigation and checking into him."

Travers, who agreed to be interviewed by "Primetime," denies any role in Servo's death and Loren, their mutual friend, quickly agreed. "He's like our sweet, adorable, couldn't-hurt-a-fly, Brian. There's no way."

Next Story: Parenting: Breaking the Cycle of Abuse
Comment & Contribute

Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.

Watch Video
1 2 3 4 5
Primetime News
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT