Kirk Levin was given a new lease on life after serving time in jail when he was freed on January 1, 2013. Instead of seizing this opportunity to change his life, he chose the route of crime. He first murdered his own mother, who was 45 years old, and then abducted an internet acquaintance by luring her into leaving her residence.
It only took Levin two days after his parole to launch a horrific attack on his mother, stabbing her repeatedly in her own house. He then traveled to Storm Lake, Iowa, to visit his MySpace friend Jessica Vega, tricking her out of her residence. He forced her to take him to a distant location, where he abducted her. Fortunately, Vega was able to escape her captor’s grasp after their vehicle crashed into a ditch. A Good Samaritan came to the rescue, allowing Vega to make a tight escape.
Kirk Levin was convicted of first-degree murder and third-degree kidnapping that same year, and he is currently serving a life term in Iowa State Penitentiary.
This Friday, April 7, Dead Silent on ID will play The Sinner and the Saint, a harrowing episode that revisits Jessica Vega’s kidnapping. Kirk Levin, Vega’s social media buddy who had previously been implicated in other crimes, had taken advantage of her. The program will air at 7 p.m. ET.
According to the summary:
Jessica Vega’s well-intentioned efforts to help a troubled adolescent she met on social networking quickly turned tragic. Kirk Levin was captured 48 hours after his release from prison and charged with a number of heinous offenses, including kidnapping and murder. Marilyn Schmitt recounts the horrible events that occurred.
Kirk Levin, 45, of Early, Iowa, was charged with the murder of his mother, Marilyn Schmitt, on January 3, 2013. The incident occurred shortly after he was freed from Mount Pleasant prison on January 1 after completing 26 months of a five-year sentence for third-degree burglary. He was also accused of kidnapping Jessica Vega from her Storm Lake home in a separate incident.
On January 3, Jessica Vega reported to authorities that Levin had beaten and kidnapped her from her apartment. Levin had sought a ride that day in the early morning hours. Despite her ability to leave and seek assistance from a stranger, Levin was eventually arrested while hiding in a nearby barn. He was charged with kidnapping, assault, and other crimes.