I had no idea Dominick Dunne did a show on this case. It originally aired last January. It is being shown again this weekend. I am watching it as I type this. Looks to me that Ed Tovrea had a bad relationship with his kids way before he even married Jeanne & they was just after as much money as they could get there hands on. When I heard about Ed's kids saying that Jeanne was the cause of the strain between the relatioship with there dad & the problems with the will, I suspected that there could be more to that story then what they were telling. Looks like there is.

I suspect that all of Ed's kids or one of them was responsible for Jeanne's death. I don't think they did it themeselves but hired someone to do it. They would not be getting much money until Jeanne died.

Anyway I think the show is really interesting & if you have not seen it I recommend it.

It will be on again at these times on Tru TV.

March 8th 3am EST
March 8th 12pm EST
March 9th 12pm EST

Thanks for letting us know, ps!

I can't remember but seem to recall they did make an arrest in this case, didn't they? I thought there was an update at some point...

James Harrod was convicted and sentenced to death of Jeanne Tovera's murder. It is believed that Ed Tovera's children hired Harrod who was a friend of Ed Tovera's oldest son Hap, to murder Jean due to being shut out of their inheritance.

James Harrod's family is still convinced he was wrongly accused of murder and if you google the case you will find many arguments both pro and con about Harrod's innocence.

I have this A&E documentary on tape and the more I watch it, even though I can't say I have any amount of affection for Ed Tovera's children, I hold him somewhat responsible for Jean's death. During the documentary they recite a letter that Ed had delivered to his children after his death basically telling they to piss off and proclaiming his loyalty to Jean. I'm sure thats every child's dream to recieve a letter like that as the final word from their parent.

Basically I think Ed Tovera didn't give his children much choice in the matter. I'm not excusing what they did if they are involved in Jean's murder but I see Jean's death as being inevitable due to all the bad blood in that family. I mean Ed's children didn't like Jean to begin with and the only reason they seemed to tolerate her was out of respect for their father, then upon his death their father shows them complete and total disrespect so given that:

A) they already had no great affection for Jean
B) their father essentially told them he could care less about them upon his death
C) Jean had inherited most of the family estate

I can see them easily making the decision to do away with Jean...obviously not a very nice thing to do but it in many ways was just indicative of the whole Tovera family situation.

Thanks for the awesome update, Dante.

Another question: was the mysterious reporter featured in the UM story ever found guilty of anything? I'm wondering if he was hired by the children to get info from Jeanne before the killing.

Interesting stuff...

^ The reporter was James Harrod. I'm not sure if the UM segment mentioned this but Jean actually met Harrod (as the "reporter" Gordon Phillips) a second time while on vacation with her daughter Debbie in Newport Beach, California..

Harrod was again singing the same song about wanting to find out more about Ed's war heroics and Jean decided to humor him and agree to a meeting. What Harrod didn't expect was for Jean to bring her daughter along. Years later Debbie was able to identify Harrod from this meeting as the voice on the mysterious answering machine tape and was of course able to pick his face out of a lineup as well.

PS: I don't believe (although I haven't checked recently) that Harrod has been executed yet. The A&E biography makes mention that Harrod was given several opportunities to have his life spared by identifying who hired him to make the hit on Jean but he has kept silent on that in face of even the death penalty. It is believed by some either he feels extreme loyalty to his friend Hap Tovera or perhaps lacks the evidence to offer the authorities anything of substance that would allow them to bring charges against Tovera and therefore spare his own life.

That letter that Ed wrote to his kids is talked about on this show as well. It also mentions that Ed felt his kids did not deserve much cause they never tried to better themeselves, get a decent career ect.

I think what sunk James Harrod's butt besides his fingerprints being at the scene of the crime is he says on the witness stand he never told anyone about the murder. Well that opened up a whole can of worms cause that led to his ex wife getting on the stand & testifying against him.

On this show, further details were brought to light. But could there be vaild reason(s) as to why Ed shut his children out? Was he simply cold-hearted to them? Or did they prove on their end that they were unwilling to do for themselves, unless he contributed his connections in order to make it easier on them, and not have to pour their sweat and tears into actually earning on their own?

^ I think there are two sides to every story myself. I remember reading an article awhile back that after Ed and his first wife divorced that Ed's wife got custody of the children so they may have been more loyal to their mother to begin with (this is just an assumption on my part).

Hap Tovera was involved in several different business ventures (although I forget what exactly he did), James Harrod was his business partner in one of these ventures and thats how they met. Hap had a lot of problems though getting his ventures off the ground and a lot of times they turned into money pits. Ed seemed to resent that his children lacked ambition or were unable to channel any ambition they might have had into something successful.

The problem with the A&E documentary is that it is very one sided - Although Jean's sister is not interviewed I believe her brother and another friend are and they speak very badly of the Tovera children. Ed's children did not participate in the broadcast so their viewpoints are not represented at all. I do remember reading somewhere though that once Jean came into Ed's life the relationship between Ed and his children which was already strained went from bad to worse.

I learned a lot from the TruTV broadcast.

I realize we didn't hear much if anything from Ed's kids, but they don't sound like the pillars of society. They stole all his ashes from Jeanne? WTF?

They were going to get money, but only after Jeanne died. There's the motive for Ed's kids. Ed knew Harrod who had no reason to know Jeanne on his own (as the article was fake), so there is opportunity.

I have an extremely hard time believing Ed's kids had nothing to do with it.

^ The reporter was James Harrod. I'm not sure if the UM segment mentioned this but Jean actually met Harrod (as the "reporter" Gordon Phillips) a second time while on vacation with her daughter Debbie in Newport Beach, California..

Harrod was again singing the same song about wanting to find out more about Ed's war heroics and Jean decided to humor him and agree to a meeting. What Harrod didn't expect was for Jean to bring her daughter along. Years later Debbie was able to identify Harrod from this meeting as the voice on the mysterious answering machine tape and was of course able to pick his face out of a lineup as well.

PS: I don't believe (although I haven't checked recently) that Harrod has been executed yet. The A&E biography makes mention that Harrod was given several opportunities to have his life spared by identifying who hired him to make the hit on Jean but he has kept silent on that in face of even the death penalty. It is believed by some either he feels extreme loyalty to his friend Hap Tovera or perhaps lacks the evidence to offer the authorities anything of substance that would allow them to bring charges against Tovera and therefore spare his own life.


If one does not know anything, then there is nothing to be said. I received the phone call from the police station the night of my brother's arrest. I have the video of the police interrogation and also know the facts of his case.

The loyalty my brother has would be to his family, first and last. He did business with Ed. (Hap) Tovrea when he was alive. Now two of the three children are dead…..who is he protecting??? James has lost his mother and father many years ago, again who would James be protecting??

The police Detective who interviewed James actually said…"we want #1, #2, and #3 and you can walk out that door." REALLY. So IF he knew anything he would not have called me asking me "sis….what do I do….I don't know any attorneys and I am being charged with murder." Okay….I called my attorney, he went to the police station….guess what…the police claim they did not have him there!!! Why??? Seems after he made that call they were not done with him. He asked to speak to an attorney over 30 times!!! The police just kept asking questions, which he answered to the best of his knowledge.


Would a guilty man continue to talk?? NO. He had nothing to hide. Same phone number, same home as in 1988 yet it's 1995 and they find him??? Give me a break. They interviewed James in the months following Ms. Tovreas death, they had 1.) the tape with Gordon Phillips voice…and 2.) a composite drawing of "Gordon Phillips," drawn by police sketch artist from Debbie Nolan-Lusters memory.

What did the police do??? They asked questions, took a few notes and told James "you do not fit the profile." That was 1988….so in 1995 he fit the profile??? The police had a VOICE on tape…James Harrod speaking to them and yet the police did not match his voice to the reporter claiming to be Phillips. HUMM….also the sketch, seems Debbie's memory changes with the wind. She picked JAMES MAJORS out of the photo line up….not James Harrod. HUMM….strange. Yes, she did I.D. James Harrod AFTER his photo was in local and national publications. She had also been shown a photo line up with Mr. Harrod in it…..nope she did not pick him.

Also the police listened to the "tape" and left it at the crime scene, seems they found nothing of interest. But it seems Debbie had an interest in the tape and days AFTER she went through her mother's things, she calls officers and turns over the tape. So the tape….no chain of custody….was NOT ALLOWED testing as requested by the defense. Why??? Upon hearing the tape and having our own experts listen, it is believed the tape was altered. But we shall never know as this case is considered over.

I poise a few questions here. Why was there no evidence presented to show that James Harrod ever went to visit Ms. Tovrea in California. Debbie claims it was a secure, guarded community. Yet no one saw anyone fitting his description. The hotel manager when questioned claimed "we did NOT receive any report of a stranger coming into the property from anyone." The guard "did NOT get a call from Debbie" as she claimed under oath. Another question for the readers…why do you think Debbies' husband "STAYED in the bedroom the entire time" when a man who Debbie considered to be a threat was "supposedly" in the other room, alone with his wife and his soon to be mother in law??? Could it be this event NEVER happened….or do you think Mr. Luster cared so little about these two women?? He "did not see," so at trial he was not asked. How very convent. I would love to see a copy of The Luster divorce settlement. Wonder how much of Jeannies money he received to go away and remain silent about the events in this case.

Why did Debbie GIVE Jeannie's new beau….a married Las Vegas casino employee…5,000 and a car? He had a home and a wide and children!! I do have the police records showing Jeannie rented AND furnished an apartment for her new love interest. No, Eddie Akridge had no intent of leaving his wife no matter how much Jeannie wanted it to happen. Reports have her best friend saying "Jeannie was going to give him an ultimatum that very next day." Of course neither Debbie or Eddie A. passed the polygraph regarding their knowledge or involvement!!! Are you serious!!! I will close with this "little known FACT," both Debbie and Jeannie's beau Eddie stayed with Jeannie's ENEMY, Karen Ganz, after the murder!!!

The ex-friend received about 35,000 from Debbie from Jeannies' estate…..why???? Seems she conned Jeannie into a land venture and upon Jeannies' death, Yuma Road Properties AKA Karen Ganz had an air tight contract that "the company" would receive the entire amount she "pledged" if Jeannie backed out.

I could go on and on but I will reserve for the upcoming book. You bet this is far from over….really.

Ask away….I may have "the facts" to back up any question. Even better..if anyone knows anything about this and they just can't stand to see an innocent person be put to death for another's action, please tell us what you know. For more facts check out jamesharrod.net



Peace

I learned a lot from the TruTV broadcast.

I realize we didn't hear much if anything from Ed's kids, but they don't sound like the pillars of society. They stole all his ashes from Jeanne? WTF?

They were going to get money, but only after Jeanne died. There's the motive for Ed's kids. Ed knew Harrod who had no reason to know Jeanne on his own (as the article was fake), so there is opportunity.

I have an extremely hard time believing Ed's kids had nothing to do with it.

I won't take much of your time as it seems you think you know FACTS in this case. Let me clarify ONE ISSUE….the children went to the 'MORTUARY" to pick up their dad's ashes. Why??? Seems the mortuary had made numerous attempts to have Ms. Tovrea pick up the ashes….so a YEAR later the children were phoned to pick them up. Guess Jeannie was "too busy" during that year.

Facts and nothing but the facts:)

Peace

^ The reporter was James Harrod. I'm not sure if the UM segment mentioned this but Jean actually met Harrod (as the "reporter" Gordon Phillips) a second time while on vacation with her daughter Debbie in Newport Beach, California..

Harrod was again singing the same song about wanting to find out more about Ed's war heroics and Jean decided to humor him and agree to a meeting. What Harrod didn't expect was for Jean to bring her daughter along. Years later Debbie was able to identify Harrod from this meeting as the voice on the mysterious answering machine tape and was of course able to pick his face out of a lineup as well.

PS: I don't believe (although I haven't checked recently) that Harrod has been executed yet. The A&E biography makes mention that Harrod was given several opportunities to have his life spared by identifying who hired him to make the hit on Jean but he has kept silent on that in face of even the death penalty. It is believed by some either he feels extreme loyalty to his friend Hap Tovera or perhaps lacks the evidence to offer the authorities anything of substance that would allow them to bring charges against Tovera and therefore spare his own life.


Fact….Ed "Hap" Tovrea and one of his sisters' are now deceased for several years. Also I did write a very long statement of facts on the reporter/James Harrod and many other facts.