One Ocean Plaza

SPEAKER_1 (0:06)

Invisible Choir explores detailed depictions of violence and murder and is not appropriate for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

SPEAKER_2 (0:15)

And I pulled the blanket off, and I think I started stabbing him in the throat. And he was like, curly, like blood, like, you know, telling me to stop, like.

And I didn't.

Michael Ojibway (0:41)

Ego can be a useful thing. When self-regulated and kept in check, it can drive our self-esteem and achievements higher and higher, bringing us to new and exciting places we might not have been able to reach otherwise. But there is a reason why there is oftentimes something of a negative connotation when discussing the egos of others, mostly in the realm of those who have an oversized one. Then there are some who weaponize their most egotistical qualities, who utilize it to mask their most undesirable behaviors and serious missteps, using it to make any situation malleable to their perspective. Those are the people who think they can outsmart the world. Those are the people who are only one step away from becoming monsters.

It was Monday, February 3, 2020, the day after Super Bowl Sunday. Everything seemed quiet, pleasant and even tranquil all over the south Florida haven of East Boca Raton. As the sun rose over the beach, the light poured in through the large windows of those structures Those.

One such structure, a parking garage located just off a popular beachfront access point, appropriately named One Ocean Plaza, would soon become the recipient of more than just solar heat. Because at just before 7:30 a.m., a longtime employee of the plaza arrived for work a little bit earlier than other employees working in or near the complex, because he enjoyed the routine of showing up with enough time to watch the sunrise before starting his work day.

As the employee entered the parking garage and made his way to the third level in his vehicle, he spotted an unattended bag sitting off to the side, a typical sign that members of the homeless community were occupying the area. Keeping that in mind, the worker continued to pull his car around the corner, but once he did, he hit the brakes immediately. There in front of his car on the ground was a deceased man, surrounded by a large amount of blood. After getting his vehicle out of the way, the employee dialed 911 Luckily, an officer familiar with both the employee and the area who had been patrolling just across the street responded to the call and arrived at the grisly scene within a few minutes. Upon seeing the body, the officer could tell the man was beyond medical help and had been dead for quite some time. He also noticed that the man wasn't wearing any shoes, yet there was a series of bloodied footprints leading to and from the body. After calling in backup, the arriving wave of officers looked around the area of the garage, while the original officer caught everyone up to speed on what he had observed upon arriving himself.

SPEAKER_7 (4:08)

I'm going to start.

SPEAKER_5 (4:11)

Watch, hey Pete, watch where you walk.

SPEAKER_6 (4:14)

There's footprints coming down, and I don't know if that black bag is connected to this either. I think that's 57

SPEAKER_7 (4:24)

Jump 39

SPEAKER_5 (4:26)

Yeah, there's a knife handle is next to him up there, and then the blade is over here. It looks like he was sleeping and got attacked, and then wound up over here and dropped.

But whoever was with him walked out this way. Yeah.

Michael Ojibway (4:42)

As word spread through local law enforcement channels and networks, officers on scene received a call from nearby Delray Beach Police Department with information they correctly guessed might be helpful. According to the information they provided, officers with the department had polled a 26 year old Mboka Raton resident named Jared Neumann over at 3:28 a.m. and they noticed he was driving a white Ford Explorer without any lights on.

Giving the driver of the Explorer the benefit of the doubt, the patrol officer flashed his own lights at him in hopes that Jared would realize his own lights were off and turn them on. But Jared Neumann didn't return the gesture in kind. At that point, the patrol officer took a U-turn into Jared's lane and all but forced him to pull over. Upon approaching the driver's side, it only took the officer a handful of moments to take notice of Jared's alarming appearance, specifically the fact that a vast amount of Jared's visible skin was covered in blood.

When asked about the amount of blood on his clothing, arms, legs, knees, and throughout his immediate vicinity in the vehicle, Jared responded that it was all the result of a, quote, very bad nosebleed, a narrative that was understandably received by the officers with raised eyebrows. After putting on disposable gloves due to the sheer amount of blood present on Jared's body, the officer proceeded to ask the driver for his license. That's when Jared presented the officer with a provisional license, stipulating that he could only drive under the supervision of a fully licensed adult, a license which had also expired in 2016 Again, alarm bells were ringing. A standard backup arrived in the form of another Delray police officer in the area. One of the officers relayed his immediate concerns upon seeing the amount of blood on Neumann's body.