Dr Phil: She Didn’t Start the Fire? False Police Reports + Fake Calls

Dr Phil: Framed Her Ex, Got Caught and Went To Prison

Dr Phil welcomed 26-year-old Jessica to his show. She made the news in 2011 when she framed her ex-boyfriend. She accused him of abuse, stalking, and arson at her mom’s house. Later, Jessica admitted that she made up the whole thing and even started the fire.

Now, Jessica claims that her confession was coerced, so I guess she didn’t start the fire? She visited Dr Phil after spending a year in prison for criminal harassment and public mischief. But that’s not all. Jessica told Dr Phil that she found love behind bars.

Dr Phil: She Didn’t Start the Fire?

Jessica was released in December 2014. She believes that she is blameless in the vast majority of the allegations against her. She maintains now that she did not start the fire, even though she does say she misled police during their investigation to lead them toward her ex-boyfriend.

“I want to clear my name and reputation,” Jessica said. Dr Phil’s stage seems like an interesting place to attempt that. Could Dr Phil help her see that maybe she should aspire above a convicted torturer who is now serving a potentially lengthy prison sentence?

Dr Phil: False Police Reports & Skepticism

Dr Phil got Jessica to admit that she filed false police reports and fabricated letters and other evidence to make her ex look bad. But Jessica said she was not lying about the abuse. According to her, the police did not take her seriously when she told them the truth initially. “The level of skepticism that they had was humiliating. It was degrading,” Jessica said.

Jessica told Dr Phil that she was accused of being mentally ill and was also told that nothing she experienced could have happened, even though she provided the names of witnesses to investigators. “I did everything that they asked me to do,” she said. “They’re not protecting me. I took it to a level to make them believe me.”

Dr Phil: Fake Call App + False Confession?

Jessica did admit that she used a “Fake a Call” app to create a false call history, planted a fake letter from her ex in her car, and admitted in a police interrogation room to setting the fire at her mother’s home. “It was such a desperate situation and I didn’t know another way to handle it,” Jessica said.

Dr Phil also went over a transcript of Jessica’s police interrogation regarding the fire. At one point, she starts to cave in, saying maybe she accidentally set the fire by dropping a cigarette. Eventually, she admits to setting fire to a blanket. Jessica now says she lied to tell the police what they wanted to hear after hours of interrogation. “I was not convicted of arson. I was not sentenced on arson at all,” Jessica said.

At 26 years old, Jessica is young and she has plenty of time to move on from this period of her life. Hopefully Dr Phil’s conversation with her can help her consider other options and possibilities for her future, beyond dating a convicted torturer who is still behind bars. Have you ever told a lie you later regretted?