Sex Offender Charged in Death of Donna Jou

March 19, 2009

Prosecutors in Los Angeles have charged 36-year-old John Steven Burgess, aka Sinjin Stevens, with multiple criminal counts in connection with the disappearance of Donna Jou, a 19-year-old resident of Rancho Santa Margarita, California, who went missing nearly two years ago.

On Tuesday, Burgess, a convicted sex offender, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, concealment of an accidental death and one count each of sale or transportation of heroin and sale or transportation of cocaine.

At the time of his arrest, Burgess was already serving a three-year prison term for failing to register as a sex offender. Those charges stem from a 2002 case, in which Burgess was convicted of performing a lewd act against a child. 

"I believe [Donna] was at this party in the Palms area and she was inducing narcotics, and the cause of her death is most likely going be overdose," Detective Ron Ito, the lead investigator, said at a news conference.

The party in question occurred on June 23, 2007. On that afternoon, Donna was with her parents at their Rancho Santa Margarita home, when a man on a motorcycle picked her up and drove her to a residence in West Los Angeles. Later that night, Donna called a friend in San Diego and said that she was calling from a bathroom inside the house where the man had taken her.

"She said her friend was not there and that the guy who had picked her up was really freaking her out," Donna's father, Reza Jou, said in a July 2008, telephone interview with Investigation Discovery. "She said he was acting odd and would not get the hint that she was not interested in him. She did not ask for help, so I think she thought that the man would take her back home."

No one heard from Donna again until sometime after midnight, when her mother, Nili Jou, received a text message that read, "I WILL BE HOME SOON.  LOVE YOU MOMMY." Nili found the message odd because it was written in all caps, and "Mommy" was not a term her daughter would typically use. The next day, at about 6:08 p.m., Nili received a second text message from her daughter, which read, "I am in San Diego. I love you Mommy. I am coming home." That would prove to be the last contact ever made from Donna's phone. The following day, her parents called the police and reported their daughter missing.

When the police examined Donna's laptop, they discovered that she had been corresponding with Burgess, a man she had met on Craigslist - an Internet community for posting classified advertisements.

When police went to question Burgess, they were unable to locate him. He had moved out of his house and his roommates claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts. They did, however, say that Donna had been there on the night of June 23, but none of them had seen her since.  

On July 26, 2007, police in Jacksonville, Florida, arrested Burgess for possession of crack cocaine. Burgess remained behind bars in Florida until August 2006, when California had him extradited to appear in court for failing to register as a sex offender.  Following his arraignment, Burgess posted bail in the amount of $250,000 and was released from jail.  About this time, police named him as an official suspect in the disappearance of Donna Jou.  As a result, Burgess fled to Florida, where, approximately three weeks later, he was arrested for theft.

While Burgess was imprisoned in the county jail, Nili sat down with him for a face-to-face meeting.

"He told her he did not hurt Donna and that he had no reason to do so," Reza said.  "He said he was drunk [at the party] and did not know where she had gone."

Burgess remained in the county jail until Oct. 10, 2007, when he was sentenced to three years in state prison. Following the hearing, Burgess was transferred to Wasco State Prison, where he was scheduled to be released this weekend, after serving more than a year of his sentence. He is now being held on the latest charges in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to Ito, Burgess supplied Donna with heroin and cocaine at the June 2007 party. Ito said that investigators have witnesses who have informed them that Donna accidentally overdosed on the drugs and died inside the house.

When recently questioned by police, Burgess allegedly confessed to his involvement, telling them that he had rented a small boat; weighted Donna's body down, and dumped her somewhere off the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Ito admits that finding Donna's remains is a "long shot," but said that authorities have not given up and will be reevaluate the search.

Meanwhile, Burgess has pled not guilty to the most recent charges. He is expected appear in court again on April 1, at which time the court will determine if there is enough evidence for the case to move to trial.

Even if the prosecution manages to get a conviction on each count, the maximum sentence that can be imposed is eight years.

The new revelations in the case have devastated Donna's parents, who were holding onto the shred up hope that their daughter might still be alive.

"It is so hard," Nili told reporters Tuesday. "All this time waiting and waiting and hoping, and now - it's hard, it's hard, it's hard - and Donna did not deserve this."

For more information, please visit: www.donnajou.com.

Photo Credits: Donna: Courtesy of Reza Jou; John Steven Burgess: Police file photo

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission from Discovery Communications. All quotes must include a link back.

Comments

[RJ the Writer]

Thank-you for giving the update on this story. I remember it due to the unusual text messages sent to her mother. My heart goes out to the family. It sounds like they had a wonderful daughter who made a small mistake around the wrong man. She did not deserve this and I pray that the family finds a small semblance of peace in knowing she did not suffer greater before she died. You may never forgive, forget or feel less pain- but I'm confidant her story will cause a butterfly affect and help a few other young women make a slightly different choice.

[Kim]

I remember this story because during that time Craiglist was the connection in another disapperance/murder. My heart goes out to Donna's family. The evil in this world is very real.

[briana]

I believe ther is a special place in hell for these types....she was a beautiful girl,who was taken before she could spread her wings....she is flying in heaven now!