ORLANDO, FL – United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Jarvis Wayne Madison 62, of New Albany, Indiana, to life in federal prison for interstate stalking resulting in death. Madison was indicted in January 2017 and had pleaded guilty in March 2021.
According to court documents and evidence introduced at his sentencing, Madison, who was married to R.M., physically, emotionally, and mentally abused her for three years before he stalked her and killed her.
The events that led to his conviction began on November 15, 2016, in Indiana, when Madison held R.M. against her will, threatened to kill her, and shot at her with his firearm. R.M. was able to escape from Madison and, with the help of a relative, relocate to Ormond Beach, Florida.
From November 15 to November 27, 2016, Madison left multiple voicemails on and sent multiple text messages to the cellphone of R.M.’s relative, attempting to get R.M. to speak to him. In these voicemails and text messages, Madison sought to terrorize R.M., threatening that she would see him again when she least expected it.
In the days immediately preceding R.M.’s disappearance, Madison stayed with Belenda Sandy at her West Virginia residence. (Sandy, 60, of Buckhannon, West Virginia previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for obstruction of justice for her role in aiding Madison’s crimes.) Madison then left Sandy’s residence, drove to Florida, and conducted surveillance on R.M.
On November 27, Madison watched R.M. leave her relative’s residence in Ormond Beach to go for a jog. Wearing a disguise, Madison stalked R.M. and waited for her to finish her run before he kidnapped her in his SUV. A short time later, as she sat in the front seat of his SUV, Madison shot R.M. three times point blank with a .45 caliber pistol, killing her. With R.M.’s body still in his SUV, Madison left Florida and traveled back to Sandy’s residence in West Virginia. After spending the night there, Madison bought a shovel and a tarp and drove to Tennessee, where he buried R.M.’s body in a shallow grave.
Following R.M.’s disappearance on November 27, 2016, authorities began an investigation that resulted in Madison’s arrest in Kentucky on December 2, 2016. During a subsequent search of Madison’s SUV, law enforcement recovered the firearm used in the homicide, as well as the binoculars he used to stalk R.M. Law enforcement also observed blood stains on the front passenger seat of the SUV. When interviewed, Madison admitted he shot R.M. and later directed authorities where to find her body.
At Madison’s sentencing, the United States presented evidence not only of Madison’s physical, emotional, and mental abuse of R.M. prior to killing her but also evidence that he had been married at least eight times before, and that he had abused each of those women in the same ways. At his sentencing hearing, several of those women bravely testified in detail about Madison’s years of physical, emotional, and mental abuse during their relationships, recounting Madison’s constant threats that he would kill them and their family if they ever reported the abuse to police or attempted to leave him.
Volusia County Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood stated, “This horrific case will never be forgotten here in Volusia County. My heart will always go out to the victim, her family, and friends, and I pray that they’ve found some peace in knowing the coward who killed her will never walk free again. On behalf of the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, the residents of our county and all victims of domestic violence, I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and every agency involved in investigating and prosecuting this tragic case.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Jacksonville, Knoxville, and Louisville Field Offices), with assistance from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Marshals Service, the Indiana State Police, and the Clarksville (Indiana) Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shawn P. Napier and Daniel P. Jancha.
Domestic violence is a crime. If you are a victim of domestic violence, or know someone who is, it is normal to feel scared, helpless, and vulnerable. You are not alone. Help is available locally through City Police Departments and County Sheriff’s Offices, as well as through national entities such as the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence at 1-303-839-1852.
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