JESSE CALEB COMPTON | In 1997, Compton and his girlfriend, Stella, starved, burned and tortured Stella's 3yo daughter, Tesslynn, in the final weeks of her life | Sentenced to death in 1998 for: aggravated murder, murder by abuse, two counts of sexual pene

Jesse Compton. Lot of 2: Autographed Letters, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelopes). Salem, OR. Pmks: (1) August 30, 2006 and (2) September 1, 2006 (0.7 oz). Content unknown. SEALED.

Early in 1997, Stella Kiser and her daughter, Tesslynn O'Cull, began living with Jesse Caleb Compton (herein referred to as “Jesse”) in Jesse's apartment. The child was approximately two-and-one-half years old when Kiser moved in with Jesse. Jesse frequently hosted “drug parties” at his apartment, some of which lasted for several days. Jesse frequently prepared methamphetamine for smoking by melting it with a small propane torch. On at least one occasion, Jesse held the lighted torch close to his hand to show his friends that he could withstand a great deal of pain.

Soon after Kiser and Tesslynn moved in with Jesse, Jesse began abusing Tesslynn. Jesse hit her on her buttocks and back with a wooden spoon, a spatula, and a belt. Visitors to the apartment observed Jesse slap her in the face, drag her by her hair, force her to stand in the corner for long periods of time, and make her take long, cold baths or showers. Jesse frequently was angry at Tesslynn, and he called her disparaging names. Visitors also observed that Jesse and Kiser usually kept Tesslynn in the bedroom during the drug parties, and they could hear the child cry for hours after Jesse had been in the bedroom with her.   Jesse would not permit others to go into the bedroom to help her. Eventually, Jesse and Kiser kept Tesslynn in the bedroom most of the time. When a neighbor complained about the way that Jesse treated Tesslynn, Jesse told him that he would kill the neighbor and the neighbor's girlfriend if they called the police.

Approximately two months before Tesslynn's death, Jesse broke four vertebrae in her back.   Sometime thereafter, he forcefully penetrated her vagina with an object and inflicted large, gaping burns on the child's back, buttocks, and genitals using an open flame. Some of those burns became infected, and Jesse poured rubbing alcohol into them. He also inflicted smaller round burns on the child's legs. During the two-week period before Tesslynn died, Jesse immobilized her 10 to 15 times by placing her hands and feet over her head and tying them together with ropes, cords, or strips of cloth. He left her tied up for eight to ten hours at a time. Within 24-hours preceding the child's death, Jesse struck her in the head several times, causing bruising to her brain, and either punched her in the abdomen or stomped on her with his foot, causing severe internal injuries. He also scraped and bruised her abdomen with a fork.

Jesse found Tesslynn dead in the bedroom of the apartment between midnight and 2:00 a.m. on June 14, 1997. Jesse cut Tesslynn loose from her restraints and tried to revive her by giving her CPR. He also struck her in the left side of the chest a few times with his fist, then applied a frayed, live electrical cord to her chest, and splashed her with cold water. He was unable to revive her.

Jesse and Kiser agreed to leave the body in the bedroom while they thought about what to do. Tesslynn's injuries were so extensive that Jesse and Kiser feared that they would go to jail if anyone saw the body. Eventually, they decided to bury the body, which they did with the help of Jesse's sister. In the days after they buried Tesslynn, Jesse and Kiser were happy, playful, and affectionate with one another. They told friends that Tesslynn was with a babysitter or at Kiser's aunt's house and that they were planning to move out of town. They also told friends that they wanted to have a baby boy.

On the evening of June 16, 1997, Jesse's sister told the Springfield Police Department that she had helped Jesse and Kiser bury Tesslynn's body in the Sweet Home  area two days earlier. Early on the morning of June 17, Springfield police officers found the child's body buried in a shallow grave near a logging road in the area that Jesse's sister had described.   They unearthed the body and arranged for an autopsy. In the grave, they also found, among other things, a piece of cloth that appeared to be torn from a curtain, a strip of gray cloth, a blue braided belt, and a woman's ring with a pink stone in it.

That afternoon, police officers went to Jesse's apartment. They advised Jesse of his Miranda rights and obtained his permission to enter the apartment and to look around. Most of the apartment was dirty and smelled bad. There were many holes in the walls, which Jesse had made by punching the walls when he was angry or by throwing knives.

In subsequent searches of the apartment, the police found drug paraphernalia, drug residue, and a propane torch. They also found a lamp with a cut cord, a pair of pliers with burn residue on it, rubbing alcohol bottles, and white cloths with knots in them. In a search of a dumpster near Jesse's apartment, the police found two trash bags from Jesse's apartment that contained a Mother's Day card for Kiser, child's clothing, an electrical cord that had been cut and had a frayed end, a blue cloth, a white cloth, and a shoestring with knots in them, and a rope. The cloth and shoestring had hair mixed in with the knots.   Some of the cloth that the police found was similar to cloth that had been found in the child's grave.

The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy concluded that Tesslynn had died of shock, and he listed the cause of death as “battered child syndrome.” Jesse was indicted on six counts of aggravated murder, murder by abuse, first-degree sexual penetration, and second-degree abuse of a corpse. As noted, the jury convicted him of all counts, and he was sentenced to death. He has been on DR since December 11, 1997 | 26 yrs.

Tesslynn’s murder led to the adoption of tougher child-abuse reporting laws.

Jesse Compton remains on Death Row in Salem, OR.

• VIDEO: Suffer the Little Children Podcast - Episode 108: Tesslynn O'Cull (Part 1) | https://youtu.be/Pgpm4momMsU?list=RDLVPgpm4momMsU
• VIDEO: Suffer the Little Children Podcast - Episode 109: Tesslynn O'Cull (Part 2) | https://youtu.be/bz7u1e16aPA?list=RDLVPgpm4momMsU

Archiving Protocol:

• Handled with White Gloves ab initio

• Photo Pages/Sheet Protectors: Heavyweight Clear Sheet Protectors, Acid Free & Archival Safe, 8.5 × 11, Top Load

• White Backing Board—Acid Free

Shipping/Packaging: Rigid Mailer 9.5 × 12.5. White, self seal, stay flat, kraft cardboard, no bend. Each rigid mailer is made of heavy cardboard, which has strong resistance to bending and tearing. Thicker that the USPS mailers. Shipping cost never more than it absolutely has to be to get it from me to you.