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Did Jared Farmer Kill Kelli Bailey?

Did Jared Farmer Kill Kelli Bailey?

Last updated on: February 4, 2026 at 8:07 am by Jeff Hood

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Did Jared Farmer Kill Kelli Bailey? 2026-02-04T08:07:48-06:00 Jeff Hood

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Jared Farmer

Kelli Bailey

While Paul Glen Everett was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of Kelli Bailey, a careful examination of the case reveals compelling reasons to conclude that Jared Farmer was the actual perpetrator. The following analysis presents a miscellany of available evidence suggesting Farmer was the actual killer.

Jared Farmer’s Suspicious Knowledge and Behavior

According to police interview transcripts referenced in the 2015 federal appeals court decision, Jared Farmer demonstrated detailed knowledge of Bailey’s murder that only someone present at the scene would possess. He reportedly told two different people about “the precise manner” in which Bailey was killed before these details became public knowledge. This is perhaps the most damning evidence against Farmer. How could he know specific details about the murder unless he was the actual killer?

Jared Farmer Has a Pattern of Threatening and Violent Behavior

Multiple family members of Paul Everett provided sworn statements describing Jared Farmer’s threatening and violent conduct. Letters from Everett’s family, detailed how Farmer threatened and harassed Everett’s family following the murder. This threatening behavior suggests Farmer had something significant to hide and wanted to ensure the family’s silence.

More troubling still, one family member’s letter indicated that Farmer was known to have threatened and attacked other women. Her February 2015 correspondence revealed that Farmer was arrested twice in 2013, and sources informed her that Farmer was “a person of interest in three cold case murders.” This pattern of violence against women and potential involvement in other unsolved homicides strongly suggests a dangerous individual capable of the brutal assault on Bailey.

Jared Farmer Had the Opportunity and the Proximity

At the time of Bailey’s murder, Everett and Farmer were staying together in a motel near Bailey’s home in Panama City Beach. This proximity gave Farmer equal opportunity to commit the crime. The physical evidence from the scene…including a fish bat that Everett had purchased…could have easily been accessed by Jared and used to murder Kelli.

Manipulation and Deception

Court documents reveal that Farmer engaged in “diversionary tactics” designed to “orchestrate the direction of the investigation.” He acted in a “deceitful manner toward the police” and was arrested on November 15, 2001, for lying to law enforcement during a sworn interview. Someone telling the truth about a murder investigation has no need for such deception. Farmer’s documented lies to investigators suggest consciousness of guilt and active efforts to misdirect the investigation away from himself.

Additionally, according to Everett’s claims, Farmer allegedly threatened Everett into giving a false confession. While courts have been skeptical of this assertion, the threatening behavior toward Everett’s family members lends credibility to the possibility that Farmer intimidated Everett into taking responsibility for a crime Farmer committed.

Investigative Failures

Perhaps most troubling is the apparent failure of law enforcement to thoroughly investigate Farmer as a suspect. When Everett’s trial counsel Walter Smith attempted to verify Everett’s claims about Farmer’s involvement, he found the theory plausible enough to investigate, though his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. The police’s early exclusion of Farmer as a DNA contributor to the vaginal swabs may have prematurely closed off this line of inquiry, despite the other circumstantial evidence pointing toward his involvement.

The Weakness of the Case Against Paul Everett

While Everett ultimately confessed to the crime, the circumstances surrounding that confession raise serious questions. The confession came only after police made statements about Florida “stick[ing] a needle in your arm” and being “strapped to a table.” Everett’s mental state deteriorated significantly between his initial November 14 interview and his November 27 confession. He provided multiple contradictory stories, including at least one implicating Jared Farmer, before finally confessing…behavior consistent with someone under extreme psychological pressure rather than genuine guilt.

Conclusion: Jared Farmer Killed Kelli Bailey

The evidence pointing toward Jared Farmer’s involvement includes: insider knowledge of the crime before details were public, a documented pattern of violence against women, connection to other unsolved murders, deceptive conduct toward investigators, threatening behavior toward witnesses and geographical proximity to the crime. While courts have rejected Everett’s post-conviction claims, the totality of the circumstances surrounding Jared Farmer points to him as the actual killer of Kelli Bailey….not Paul Everett.

Justice for Paul Everett is Justice for Kelli Bailey

The State of Florida must not…and cannot in good conscience…execute Paul Everett while substantial and disturbing questions remain unanswered about Jared Farmer’s direct involvement in this crime. Executing a man when another individual possessed detailed insider knowledge of the murder, systematically engaged in witness intimidation against the defendant’s family, deliberately lied to investigators under oath and has been directly connected to multiple other violent crimes against women and three unsolved murders would not constitute justice…it would represent a catastrophic and irreversible miscarriage of justice that dishonors the memory of Kelli Bailey herself. Death is absolute and final. There is no appeal, no remedy, no correction possible for executing an innocent man. The blood of that injustice stains forever. Until every reasonable doubt has been thoroughly eliminated, every credible lead investigated and every avenue of inquiry exhausted…particularly a deeper investigation into Jared Farmer…the state shouldn’t even consider an execution date for Everett. True justice for Kelli Bailey requires absolute certainty that the right person is held accountable, not merely that someone is punished. Justice for Paul Everett is the apprehension and conviction of Jared Farmer. Justice for Kelli Bailey is the apprehension and conviction of Jared Farmer. Justice for Paul Everett is Justice for Kelli Bailey.

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About The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a Catholic priest (Old Catholic), theologian, and nationally recognized activist based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. A spiritual advisor to death row inmates across the country, Dr. Hood has accompanied more people to their executions than any other advisor in the U.S., including the first-ever nitrogen hypoxia execution in 2024. His work sits at the intersection of justice, radical compassion, and public theology. Dr. Hood holds advanced degrees from Auburn, Emory, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, University of Alabama, Creighton, and Brite Divinity School, among others. He also earned a PhD in metaphysical theology and founded The New Theology School, where he serves as Dean and Professor of Prophetic Theology. Author of over 100 books—including the award-winning The Courage to Be Queer—Dr. Hood’s writings and activism have been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, CNN, and more. A frequent collaborator with men on death row, he sees theology as a shared, liberative act. Dr. Hood has served on the leadership teams of organizations like the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. His activism has earned multiple awards, including recognition from PFLAG and the Next Generation Action Network. On July 7, 2016, Dr. Hood led the Dallas protest against police brutality that ended in tragedy. His actions that night saved lives, and his story is now archived in the Dallas Public Library. A father of five, husband to Emily, and friend to the incarcerated, Dr. Hood rejects institutionalism in favor of a theology rooted in people, presence, and prophetic witness. You can read more about the author here.

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