Her Own Mom And Dad Were The Ones To Find Her Murdered And Stuffed Inside A Closet In Her Apartment: But Two Seemingly Prime Suspects Already Had Alibis

In 2011, twenty-six-year-old Samantha Folsom of Lewiston, Maine, was attempting to turn her life around.
According to her parents, Jon and Joline Turner, she was a remarkable young girl who could have accomplished anything.
“She was a wonderful child, never in any type of trouble whatsoever. She was also a protector of the underdog,” Joline said.
Following high school, though, Samantha’s path reportedly took a turn. And Joline claimed it was around the same time that a young man, Jesse Folsom, entered her daughter’s life.
“It’s what you call a mother’s instinct. I knew that he was not right for her,” Joline recalled.
Joline’s first suspicions were confirmed after discovering bruising on her daughter’s arms. Apparently, Samantha had attempted to cover the marks by wearing long sleeve shirts in the height of summer– something that her mother immediately noted as strange.
Then, following the realization, Joline confronted both Samantha and Jesse about the suspected abuse. Neither of the pair tried to deny it, though, and Samantha’s parents stepped in.
Her father, Jon, worked with Jesse three to four nights a week– helping the young man earn his G.E.D. Afterward, he also aided Jesse in beginning a career in the army.
So, after a lot of time and effort, it appeared that Samantha and Jesse’s relationship was improving. In fact, Joline believed they were going to get a fresh start.

Maine State Police – pictured above is Samantha
“They were going to start a new life, and I had his [Jesse’s] word at the time that he was going to protect her. They got married and moved to California. Her husband was stationed in the army,” Joline explained.
Following the move in 2005, though, Jon and Joline claimed that everything had changed. After Samantha visited back home, she reportedly seemed like a different person– exhausted and introverted.
At that point, Joline also became suspicious of her daughter again. This time, though, she suspected that Samantha had been using drugs.
Joline’s instincts ended up proving correct for a second time, and Samantha eventually confessed to developing an addiction while living in California. Moreover, the young woman claimed that she had tried to get clean but could not shake the habit.
The next time that Samantha visited home, though, she was faced with a life-changing realization. After feeling severe pain in her side and rushing to the emergency room with Joline in fear of appendicitis, Samantha learned that she was actually pregnant with a baby boy.
And even though the pregnancy was a surprise, it was a happy one. The news also forced Samantha to fight her addiction harder than ever.
Months later, she gave birth to a healthy son– and Jon and Joline were determined to help their daughter and grandson thrive.
Samantha and Jesse also eventually broke up following a lot of dysfunction, so she moved back home. There, Samantha got an apartment near her parent’s house in Maine and set her sights on one large challenge.
“She wanted to go to rehab. She decided she wanted to change for her son, and that was the turning point in her life,” her father said.
When Samantha told her parents about her decision to get help, her son had been staying with a different family member. Then, the plan was for Samantha to go over to her parent’s house, and they were going to bring her to rehab the following morning on November 9.
Once that day came, though, Jon and Joline’s daughter never showed up. Hours passed, and they heard nothing. So, the Turners began frantically calling around. And after they could not locate Samantha, they showed up and began knocking on her apartment door.
Jon and Joline’s knocks went unanswered, though, and they had a bad feeling. This pushed Jon to visit the housing office and ask to be let in– claiming that he wanted to conduct a welfare check on his daughter.
Jon was turned down, though, and told that he was not allowed inside since he was not listed on the lease. So, the Turners were forced to just file a missing person’s report and wait.
They claim that little was done following the issued report. Plus, over the following three days, Jon and Joline traveled back and forth between the police department and Samantha’s apartment– hoping someone would let them inside.
“Finally, I went to the housing place again and said, ‘Look, she’s got a cat in there that hasn’t eaten in days. So they worked with me. They sent a maintenance man, and he opened it up,” Jon recalled.
As soon as the door to Samantha’s apartment swung open, though, the Turners knew something was terribly wrong.
Despite it being a brisk November in Maine, all of the windows had been left open in their daughter’s apartment. Moreover, every fan was on, and Samantha’s television volume was blaring.
Still, Joline’s first thought was to locate her daughter’s cat. And the cat’s carrier was inside the closet.
“She [Joline] opened the closet door, and that’s where, that’s where our life changed,” Jon said.
The Turners discovered Samantha murdered and stuffed inside the closet.
“Thank God for one thing, that her head was down and I didn’t see her face, but still, the memory of that haunts me,” Joline revealed.
State police were immediately contacted, and officers took over the investigation. And despite Samantha’s cause of death not being immediately disclosed, the Turners believed they knew who had wanted their daughter dead: Jesse Folsom.
Joline claimed that her daughter and Jesse split up not long before Samantha was found murdered. Samantha had also reportedly already found a different boyfriend– another reason why Jesse might have had a motive.
The only problem, though, was that Jesse was already in jail for assaulting Samantha’s boyfriend.
As for the new boyfriend, Samantha had also broken up with him as well following allegations of more abuse.
But, this lead proved to be a dead end as well– since the boyfriend also happened to already be in jail for assault at the time of Samantha’s murder.
This puzzled the Turners, investigators, and the greater community. Samantha did have her challenges, but she was well-known as a happy person who was focused on caring for her son and staying clean.
Then, there was a crack in the case. Former journalist Scott Dolan had been working at the Portland Press Herald when he decided to investigate further into Samantha’s case. And upon speaking with her neighbors, Dolan learned Samantha had been frightened just before her death.
According to Dolan, Samantha had confided in one of her neighbors shortly before her murder. The neighbor claimed that someone had visited Samantha’s door, banging on it, and Samantha was “terrified” of the visitor.
“From what I gathered, Samantha was in the drug world, and she was trying to get clear of it. I think it was probably someone from her past or some acquaintance who was drawing her back in,” Dolan said.
Despite this hunch, though, the Main State Police Department never provided confirmation. All they have told the public is that Samantha’s case remains open, and anyone with information should come forward to help close it.
Jon and Joline have since created a memorial page on Facebook and are still battling with the grief of their daughter’s death.
Following Samantha’s murder, the Turners had been a tight-knit family– with Jon and Joline celebrating thirty-five years of marriage. After their daughter’s death, though, Jon claimed that “the whole thing went to hell.”
He and Joline got a divorce, and the circumstances surrounding their daughter’s death continue to haunt them both.
“The nighttime is the worst because I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from finding her in the condition she was in,” Joline admitted.
Still, throughout the years of heartache and turmoil, two things have brought Joline comfort.
“At the end of it all, I know two places where she is– down the road at St. Peter’s cemetery and in Heaven,” she said.
Samantha Folsom was twenty-six years old at the time of her death and left behind a three-year-old son. If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Maine State Police at (207) 657-3030.
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