A Vail man accused of suffocating his 13-year-old stepdaughter and attempting to hide her body in a desert area near the family’s home heads to trial this week.
In addition to charges of first-degree murder and abandonment of a dead body, Joshua Lelevier, 39, is facing six felonies in connection with films of the girl undressing and using the bathroom.
Lelevier has been held in the Pima County jail on a $1 million bond since his May 31, 2017, arrest.
Jayden Glomb went missing from her home the night of May 10 and was reported missing to police a few hours later. Her body was discovered shortly before noon the next day, in a desert area less than two miles from her home.
Lelevier was arrested in connection with her death roughly two weeks later, following a series of interviews and the discovery of surveillance video that showed his truck in the area where Jayden’s body was found. Lelevier previously told detectives that he’d gone out to look for Jayden when he discovered her missing shortly after 1:30 a.m., but hadn’t driven near where her body was found.
Tire tracks and shoe prints collected from where the body was found matched items belonging to Lelevier, and forensic examination of the vehicle found traces of Jayden’s blood on the tailgate.
In the following weeks, search warrants served on the home revealed what appeared to be a peephole from the den into the bathroom. Detectives also seized an endoscopic camera, a spy camera and a thumb drive from the home.
Police found images and a video of Jayden during the search. Shortly after, a grand jury indicted Lelevier on two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of voyeurism and two counts of surreptitious photographing, videotaping, filming or digitally recording domestic violence.
When investigators examined Jayden’s computer, they found online searches for suicide, blood loss and drug overdoses.
The searches were performed while Jayden was at school and Lelevier was home alone. Investigators also found what seemed to be a suicide note signed by Jayden that was deleted from the computer less than an hour after Lelevier said he discovered she was missing.
Interviews with Jayden’s friends revealed that the girl said she was “terrified” of Lelevier and had recently discovered something about him that made her “super scared.” At least one of Jayden’s friends is scheduled to testify at Lelevier’s trial, along with the girl’s mother, who filed for divorce from Lelevier a week after his arrest.
Jury selection will begin Tuesday, with opening statements tentatively scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.
It’s unclear if Lelevier will testify, as a witness list has not yet been provided by the defense.
The trial is scheduled to last through Nov. 28.
