The murder of Polly Klaas on October 1, 1993, made national headlines. The twelve-year-old was kidnapped at knifepoint from her Petaluma, California, home and ultimately found strangled to death.

Three months earlier, a similar crime involving a younger girl occurred across the country. On July 11, thirteen days after she turned three-years-old, Kaile Lee was abducted from her Knoxville, Tennessee, apartment. Her body was found later that day. She had been killed in a particularly brutal manner by a man she trusted.

Polly Klaas and Kaile Lee were both kidnapped from their homes and strangled to death. Unlike Polly’s murder, Kaile’s case did not draw national attention because it was quickly solved.

Kaile Lee

Kaile’s mother Lisa befriended twenty-two-year-old James Julian in early 1993.

Julian went on several trips to a lake with Lisa, her husband, Robert, and their three children, of whom Kaile was the oldest. In May, however, Lisa began distancing her family from Julian after learning of his drug abuse.

Shortly thereafter, Julian would commit a more heinous form of abuse.

James Julian

On the evening of July 10, 1993, shortly after separating from her husband, Lisa and a friend attended a party while the friend’s sister babysat the children at their Big Oak Apartment complex in West Knoxville. After returning home at a late hour, Lisa allowed the babysitter to sleep on the couch for the evening.

At approximately 6:30 a.m. the following morning, the babysitter heard a knock at the door. When she asked who it was, a man replied, “Jim.” After he mentioned the names of several family members, the babysitter let him into the apartment.

“Jim” was a noticeably inebriated James Julian. As he guzzled a glass of bourbon and coke, Julian rambled on about nothing in particular for nearly forty-five minutes before the babysitter asked him to leave. He did so, but approximately fifteen minutes later, as the sitter was drifting back to sleep, he pounded on the door again.

As Julian sounded even more drunk, the babysitter did not want to let him in. Kaile, however, had also awakened and, recognizing Julian’s voice, asked that he be let in. The sitter then allowed Julian back into the apartment. He and Kaile sat on the couch together and talked for a few minutes before appearing to fall asleep. Shortly thereafter, the babysitter also dozed off. Kaile’s mother was still in her room sleeping.

A few minutes later, the sitter awoke to find Julian carrying Kaile out the door. Lisa awoke between 8:30-9:00 a.m. When the babysitter told her about Julian, Lisa believed he had probably taken Kaile to the store. By 11:00, however, after they had still not returned, Lisa called the police.

Julian Takes Kaile

Julian’s car was found at his place of employment, Colvin and Sons Heating and Air. Police learned he was on a business trip to Georgia and had called his grandmother from a pay phone in Chattanooga saying he was in trouble.

After Julian’s grandmother learned of the situation, she arrived at Colvin with a key to the car and gave the police permission to open it. Inside the car’s trunk, police found a child’s outfit and a green towel covered in blood, feces, sticks, and leaves. The clothing was confirmed to be Kaile’s.

As authorities searched for him, Julian returned to Knoxville. He called his father from a pay phone; then he called the police. While he was talking to them, officers arrived and placed him under arrest.

Under questioning, Julian confessed to having raped and murdered Kaile and agreed to lead them to her body. He also detailed the awful last moments of her short life.

Julian Confesses

After carrying Kaile out of the apartment between 8:30-9:00 a.m. Julian said he took her to a remote area of Tellico Lake, approximately twenty-five miles southwest of Knoxville. He parked his car near a stand of pine trees secluded from the view of area traffic. Julian said he then removed his clothes and took a still-clothed Kaile into the lake. After they swam for a few minutes, Julian said he took her into the woods where he undressed, raped, and sodomized her. Kaile was screaming and bleeding, and as her cries became more desperate, Julian choked the three-year-old to death.

After killing Kaile, Julian returned to the lake where he cleaned himself and washed her. He then carried her body into the woods and placed her in the underbrush.

Julian put Kaile’s clothes and the towel on which he had performed his lewd acts into his car’s trunk. He then returned home and prepared for his work trip.

An Awful Murder

James Julian was convicted of felony murder, aggravated rape, and the rape of a child. Prosecutors asked for the death penalty, but the jury spared his life, sentencing him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Julian, now fifty-two-years-old, is incarcerated at the Trousedale Turner Correctional Center near Hartsville, Tennessee.

Julian Escapes Execution

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63839944/kaile-lynn-lee

SOURCES:
• Buffy Lee, Kaile’s Aunt
• Knoxville News-Sentinel
• The Tennessean