Trial of Theodore Edgecomb

Season 5, Episode 3

Theodore Edgecomb – Road Rage Homicide of Jason Cleereman

There was a road rage incident between Jason Cleereman, in a car, and Theodore Edgecomb, on a bicycle. 
After Edgecomb punched Cleereman through his car window, Cleereman followed Edgecomb and confronted him. 
But Edgecomb had a gun, and fired a single shot.

Jason Cleereman, 54, and his wife, Evanjelina, were driving from a tavern on the night of September 22, 2020. Evanjelina, who was driving, testified that she had to swerve when Edgecomb, 32, on a bicycle, rushed westbound Brady Street from the sidewalk. Edgecomb asserts that the car driven by Evanjelina actually hit him, and that Jason yelled a racial slur at him. 

As the Cleeremans were stopped in Holton Street, Edgecomb rode up behind them, pulled up near the passenger door, asked Cleereman if he had spoken to him, and then punched him in the face after Cleereman replied “yes”. 

Surveillance video stills of the shooter were identified by a neighbor as Theodore Edgecomb. The Cleeremans pulled their car over near Edgecomb as he cycled north over the Holton Street Bridge. Cleereman got out of the car and walked towards Edgecomb who had moved up to stairs that lead down to Swing Park on Water Street, below the bridge. When Cleereman got within about 3 feet, Edgecomb fired a single shot which killed Cleereman. 

Edgecomb left town and was not arrested until about six months later after a traffic stop in Kentucky. 

Edgecomb was on bail for two pending cases at the time of the shooting. As a condition of bail in each case, Edgecomb was not allowed to have a firearm. On the first day of the trial, he pleaded guilty to two counts of jumping bail which had been charged in addition to the homicide charge. 

The trial took place in January 2022, and the Milwaukee County jury took about 2 1/2 hours to find Theodore Edgecomb guilty on a lesser charge of first-degree reckless homicide for killing immigration attorney Jason Cleereman in the 2020 road rage incident. 

The verdict came about 30 minutes after the jury asked to review police surveillance video of the Holton Street Bridge shooting, which the jurors had already seen many times during the trial. 

On April 8th, 2022, Edgecomb was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with an additional 12 years of extended supervision.

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Related keywords: True Crime, Court, Court in the Act, Holly Street, Max Street