06-07-2025
I lived with a serial killer for 6 months before I learned what he'd done - he mentored me and even taught me to shave
A man has spoken of how he lived with a serial killer as a roommate before he found out what he had done.
Jesse Crosson shared the experience when he was staying at Nottoway Correctional Centre in the US state of Virginia.
He explained he had gotten a job in the wood shop, and when he was moved into a new prison cell, he realised he was already occupied by an 'old little man'.
He explained in a TikTok video: ' I remember the pop the door to the cell for me to go in and there was this old little man sitting in front of the TV drinking his coffee and I was like "This is a roommate I can deal with, he's not young and crazy, he's not going to be loud."
'It worked out great. Sometimes he worked night shift, and I worked day shift, so I got the cell to myself. He was quiet, we had good conversations, we watched Jeopardy. I really liked the guy. He even taught me how to shave because when I first got locked up, I couldn't grow a beard, so I never learned.'
In the video, he goes on to explain, the roommate never received any mail from family or spoke to anyone on the phone, and as he knew he had previously been a decorated officer in Vietnam, he asked his stepmother if he could write him a letter.
He said: 'And then my stepmum comes for a visit and she's like 'You know Jesse, your roommate is a serial killer.'
'I said 'okay...'
'So she tells me this whole story and I got back to have this conversation like "Greg, remember how I said I was going to try to get my stepmum to write to you? Well, she doesn't really feel comfortable" and he says 'yeah, you did your homework' and he laughed and it scared the s**** out of me.'
In the video, he went on to say that the roommate was 'connected to dozens of murders across the country ,but I didn't know that at first'
He added: 'Finding out one day that I was living with a serial killer was uncomfortable and it didn't really mesh with the things I knew about him.
'He had been a decorated officer in Vietnam. He had served three tours and used to recite the names of every soldier he had lost.
'The man was helping me work on my vocabulary... He was really where I started to understand that one is just one thing.'
In 2002, Crosson was originally sentenced to serve 32 years in jail just as he turned 18 after committing two separate and unrelated crimes: being caught in a robbery and a shooting.
After spending 19 years behind bars, the 38-year-old shares his jail tales to his 1.2 million TikTok followers, revealing the fascinating facts of what life is really like in prison - and what it was like to readjust to life outside when he was released.
In a recent clip, the former inmate shared the moment he was released from prison 'felt like a dream.'
He recalled walking outside for the first time and getting into a car felt 'awkward and weird' - and he even had a 'breakdown' in Costco after shopping with his newfound freedom.
'I started to feel two things,' he recalled. 'One was a sense of grief for everything that I lost and beginning to realize all those years had passed, and the other was a sense of joy.'
Crosson, who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, recalled shifting his mindset from his life as a free man 'being a dream,' to it being 'waking up' from a bad one.
'It was back to reality for the first time,' the ex-convict explained. 'And it was where I belonged.'
The motivational speaker, who has started the Second Chancer Foundation in 2022 to provide direct services for prisoners, admitted he suffered from a breakdown and PTSD, as well as struggling in different environments and relationships.
Crosson has also recalled the moment he found out he was being released from prison - saying it had been a 'surprise' - and he woke up that day thinking he still had 10 years left on his prison sentence.
However, he was called into the counselor's office who told him the good news - he was a free man.
After being given 'ridiculous' release clothes - oversized khaki pants and a large khaki-colored shirt - he left the prison and was picked up by his mom, who he could finally embrace after spending 15 minutes filling out the final paperwork.
In one video, Crosson has also recalled the moment he found out he was being released from prison - saying it had been a 'surprise'
'I picked her up and I started swinging her around,' he reminisced.
In a TikTok posted in June, Crosson explained he was arrested after he and his co-defendants had run out of money, and were trying to get a fix - making the decision to rob the home of a restaurant owner someone had worked for.
Although they justified the crime by convincing themselves the restaurant owners weren't good people.
However, someone ended up being home and it turned into a home invasion, which left Crosson paranoid and afraid they were after him.
Wanting to defend himself, Crosson purchased a handgun from a friend - which turned out to be stolen - and was involved in a fight that ended in a car chase and him firing his gun.
He was caught and sentenced to 32 years - double the recommended sentence.
'When I got arrested I looked absolutely insane,' the ex-criminal recalled, saying he was dressed like a gangster inspired by his friend's uncle, who legitimately was one.
'I had these hiking boots on but I had dress socks, I didn't have any boxers on cause we're so strung out, we can never get organized to do laundry but I was wearing dress clothes, [I] wanted to be just like him,' he said.
'I also had this long overcoat that my stepfather had given me and besides thinking it made me look like a gangster we had a strap on the AK, so I can put it over my shoulder with a regular clip in there, you couldn't even tell it was under the jacket,' he added.
The free man said he was arrested in that outfit and had to wear it again when he was transferred from jail to the receiving center before starting his sentence.
While he was being processed, he was given the options of sending the garments home or leaving them there. He instead opted to throw the clothes away.
'With limited money on the books, there was no way in the world I was gonna pay for the postage [when] I could buy food and hygiene instead,' he explained.
'Maybe that's why I was so hesitant to start wearing dress clothes again, because for about a year-and-a-half or almost two years all I wore was T-shirts and jeans. I was like no, I don't need that fancy stuff,' he added thoughtfully.
In other videos, Crosson revealed more information from his time in prison - including his unusual mentor, who turned out to be a serial killer.
'I was surprised because I said you know I really like this guy,' he recalled in a clip posted to TikTok. 'I get along with him, he teaches me something every day, he helped me a lot in kind of seeing the world in a different way.'
Although Crosson appears to be remorseful about his actions, he isn't remorseful about being arrested.
'I needed to be arrested,' he said in a video explaining why he was put behind bars. 'I was an active threat to other people.'
'In many ways being arrested, being pulled me out of the crazy lifestyle, the tail spins that I was in is what saved my life,' he added sincerely.
Crosson also said with 'great love and support,' he was able to put his life back together in prison.
'I mentored other men, earned a Bachelor's degree, became a journeyman electrician, wrote articles for publication and found a way forward,' he said.
