In July 2004, Jarrod Davidson — 27, chemistry student, devoted father — was shot and killed outside his Santa Barbara apartment after answering a knock at the door. Left on his doorstep: a potted Persian Violet and a gift card with his name misspelled.

What followed was one of the more methodical investigations in recent California true crime history: five months of surveillance, DNA lifted from a plastic card holder, cell tower records that put two people exactly where they said they weren't, and a confession extracted only after prosecutors agreed to leave someone else off the hook entirely.

Jenny covers the case from plant purchase to life sentence — with a brief detour into Victorian flower symbolism, because of course.

Content note: this episode includes discussion of child custody disputes and unsubstantiated allegations of child abuse used as a defense justification.