Jade Olmstead is a Pennsylvania woman serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of her ex-girlfriend, 20-year-old Youngstown State University student Brandy Stevens-Rosine, who was beaten and buried alive in a shallow grave in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, in May 2012. Olmstead, whose full name is Nichole “Jade” Olmstead, pleaded guilty on October 31, 2013. Her co-defendant and then-girlfriend, Ashley Marie Barber, received the same sentence after pleading guilty two weeks later.
How the Killing Happened
Olmstead and Stevens-Rosine had dated for about a year before breaking up, but stayed in regular contact. Friends said Stevens-Rosine remained in love with Olmstead and would drive long distances to help her when asked. Olmstead had since moved in with Ashley Barber at the Barber family home on Drake Hill Road, a secluded property in Wayne Township, near Cochranton.1HuffPost. Brandy Stevens-Rosine Case: Love Triangle
On May 17, 2012, the two women lured Stevens-Rosine to the property intending to kill her. When a judge later asked why they had invited her over, Olmstead answered, “We were going to kill her.”2Record-Courier. NW Pennsylvania Woman Gets Life in Murder of Ohio Woman Prosecutors introduced entries from a notebook belonging to Olmstead confirming premeditation, including one that read: “That person didn’t deserve to have life… Do I feel guilty? No, I feel proud.”3The Pottstown Mercury. PA Woman Gets Life in Murder of Ohio Woman
Once Stevens-Rosine arrived, Olmstead walked her into the woods under the pretense of showing her a fort, where Barber was waiting. State Trooper Eric Mallory testified that the two women beat Stevens-Rosine, strangled her with a rope, struck her repeatedly in the head with a shovel, and slammed her head against a tree stump. Olmstead admitted hitting the victim in the head with the shovel while Barber held her face down.4HuffPost. Brandy Stevens-Rosine: Death Penalty Not Sought3The Pottstown Mercury. PA Woman Gets Life in Murder of Ohio Woman
The pair then rolled Stevens-Rosine into a pre-dug shallow grave. When they saw she was still breathing, they smashed her face with a large rock and poured water into her nose and mouth trying to drown her. She was buried while still alive. Forensic pathologist Eric Vey determined the cause of death was suffocation from dirt in her airway.4HuffPost. Brandy Stevens-Rosine: Death Penalty Not Sought Crawford County Coroner Scott Schell’s autopsy found blunt force trauma, a skull fracture, and fifteen lacerations to her scalp. Afterward, Olmstead and Barber burned some of the victim’s possessions to cover their tracks.
The Investigation
Stevens-Rosine’s family reported her missing on May 19, two days after she left to visit Olmstead. Her mother, Carrie Rosine, used social media to publicize the search and flagged inconsistencies in the statements Barber and Olmstead had given police.1HuffPost. Brandy Stevens-Rosine Case: Love Triangle
Barber first told investigators her own father had committed the murder, claiming he was “not tolerant of homosexuals.” That story fell apart, and both women eventually confessed and led authorities to the burial site. On May 23, 2012, officers recovered Stevens-Rosine’s partially decomposed remains from the shallow grave a few hundred yards from the house. They also recovered her 2002 Kia Rio at the residence, along with a blood-soaked sweatshirt, a rock, and other physical evidence the women had buried.4HuffPost. Brandy Stevens-Rosine: Death Penalty Not Sought
Both women were charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, and tampering with physical evidence, and were held without bail at the Crawford County Correctional Facility.5CBS News. PA Women Face Murder Charges in Brandy Stevens Shallow Grave Death
Guilty Plea and Life Sentence
Crawford County District Attorney Francis Schultz announced the state would not seek the death penalty, saying the case did not meet the aggravating circumstances required under Pennsylvania law. A first-degree murder conviction carried a mandatory sentence of life without parole.4HuffPost. Brandy Stevens-Rosine: Death Penalty Not Sought
Olmstead pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Crawford County Court on October 31, 2013, and received that mandatory life sentence. At sentencing, Schultz cited the autopsy evidence that Stevens-Rosine was “still breathing when this defendant buried her in the ground” and read aloud from Olmstead’s notebook entries.3The Pottstown Mercury. PA Woman Gets Life in Murder of Ohio Woman Barber pleaded guilty to the same charge on November 14, 2013, before Judge Mark D. Stevens and received the same sentence.6The Review. Second PA Woman Gets Life in Love Triangle Death
Where Jade Olmstead Is Now
Olmstead remains in Pennsylvania state prison with no possibility of parole and has not publicly pursued any post-conviction challenge. Barber did. She filed a petition under Pennsylvania’s Post Conviction Relief Act in November 2014, arguing her plea had been unlawfully induced because she was mentally incompetent and had received ineffective assistance from her trial attorney, Robert Draudt. Judge Stevens denied the petition after an October 2017 evidentiary hearing, finding the plea colloquy transcript showed Barber was “alert, responsive, communicative, and consistent,” and that jail health services administrator Dawn Salsberry had testified Barber consistently took her prescribed medication before the plea.7Justia. Commonwealth v. Ashley Marie Barber, 839 WDA 2018 The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed on December 27, 2018, and Barber did not file a timely petition to the state Supreme Court, so her conviction stands.8Meadville Tribune. Petition Deadline Passes for Convicted Killer Seeking to Withdraw Guilty Plea Both women remain incarcerated.