This week, the efforts of one YouTuber, Justice 4 All, were rewarded and he succeeded in landing what is, perhaps, the most poignant interview in Summer Wells’ case with the elusive, Jose Roman.
Jose has become a daily name for those following Summer’s case because of his involvement in ending the friendship between Candus and Ally, which they both discussed with Chris McDonough. Jose was also the reason Don came back from Utah, the reason Don was arrested for domestic abuse, and is, indirectly, the reason why Don is locked up in Hawkins County Correctional right now.
The salacious nature of nature of Jose’s stay with Candus on Ben Hill Rd is the main reason why so many people have been talking about him, but there is also a question if Jose could have been involved in taking Summer. After all, he lived at the house for several months, according to what he told Justice, so Summer would have known him well and been comfortable around him.
Jose has a lot to say about his time at the Wells’ home. The interview was done over several phone calls and recordings and I get the feeling that Jose has been watching a LOT of YouTube videos to catch up on what he’s missed. The fact that he researched on his own is apparent when he’s talking about the case because he repeats catch phrases that others have said. One phrase in particular that struck me as interesting was when he said he “cut ties” with Candus in October 2020, after she rescinded the order of protection against Don. Ally told Chris M. that she “cut ties” with Candus while Jose was still there. I don’t think it’s coincidental that he repeated the exact same phrase in regard to the same people, same situation, at the approximate same time. I think he watched the Chris M interview with Ally and Hunter and suddenly all his bells and whistles started to ring and blow at the same time. He does say to Justice many times during the interview that he regrets his past behaviors and mostly, he regrets not calling CPS on Candus when he saw how the children were being raised and the filth they lived in.
Hmmm….
Personally, I believe most of the things that Jose said about living at the Wells.’ I don’t believe some of what he says in regard to his conflicts with Don. It’s possible that it happened the way he says it did, that he confronted Don multiple times about his bad parenting, but let’s be honest, much of what Jose said was likely what he wishes he would have said in hindsight, not what he actually said. Regardless, there were a few bombshells that Jose dropped:
He lived in the house for a month after Don came home from Utah.
I get the impression from Jose that he really had no idea what he walked into in May 2020 when he first went to visit Candus, but according to him, he stayed for several months, including a FULL MONTH AFTER Don came back from Utah. If that is true, then the impression we had of Jose being left at the house with Candus for a week or so after he partied with her and Ally, then Don coming home and kicking him out–causing a domestic dispute that got Don arrested in the meantime–didn’t happen.
Jose claims Don tried to make him leave shortly after he came back (within a week, definitely not right away) but Jose had made the arrangement with Candus to stay at the house and said he wouldn’t leave unless she kicked him out. Jose confirms that Miss Candus (he calls her Grandus now) drove him to South Carolina and dropped him there. Jose says that he made Grandus promise not to tell Candus and Don where she took him, so I assume that part of the story is true, because Candus thought Jose was in North Carolina, which is a half-truth. That would mean that Jose lived with Don and Candus for approximately one month at Ben Hill Rd, sleeping in the adjacent room.
Let me get this out of the way first, because I know you’re wondering.
There was no door separating the room where Jose slept, which was Summer’s room at the time she disappeared, and the room where Don and Candus slept. Jose said that the room he was sleeping in was a playroom for the kids and they would come into that room frequently to play while Jose was sleeping. He also said that the kids spent a lot of time watching TV on a blue sofa which had been pushed against the basement door so Summer couldn’t escape. That means that Jose spent a lot of time up close and personal with Summer and her brothers. For anyone who has said that abduction wouldn’t be possible from the house by a stranger (which even Jose has stated), make mental note that Jose is one character who was NOT a stranger to Summer or her brothers.
Jose doesn’t go into detail about WHY he decided to stay at the Wells’ home, but let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Candus allowed a stranger to come into her home and live there with her three young children and Jose agreed.
Think of your children as small people and imagine allowing a random man to live among them, to sleep in their playroom, to be alone with them when your back was turned. His very presence in that house was a violation of the childrens’ right to privacy and safety. It doesn’t matter if he was a model tenant and never stepped one foot out of place, which, by the way, is how he describes himself. He was a stranger who came into their home and took over.
Jose tells Justice that he criticized Candus and Don for how they parented the kids, that he cooked and cleaned for Candus, and that she and her mother watched everything he did with amazement. Jose really likes telling parts of the story that he believes make him appear as a wholesome and helpful person with good intentions, especially in comparison with Don, so any time he starts talking about all the protective and parental things he did for Summer, Whelan, and Wyatt, I assume that he’s covering up his real behavior.
At best, Jose sees now what the rest of the world sees and wishes that he had been in a better mental space so he could have affected change before Summer disappeared and regrets that he walked away. At worst, Jose chose to go to the Wells’ home because he was renting a kid, not a room, and his presence there ensured that the family would eat well, which was something Don was not providing.
Not sure how Jose, the best house-guest ever, who also knows exactly what little kids want and need, could be turned into a kid-renter in my head? Think about it…
He wasn’t there for the cooking or the accommodations. He was comfortable staying in a house with a woman and her young children with NO BEDROOM DOOR, NO BATHROOM DOOR, and, as he tells it to Justice, assumed the role of educator and parent to not only the children, but to Don, Candus, and Grandus. Jose positions himself as the only one with a moral compass and especially compares himself to Don, but Jose was the one living with a disadvantaged woman and her children.
Candus confessed that she had a sexual relationship with Hunter but hid it from Ally.
This wasn’t shocking. Hunter’s Facebook account from two years ago has a “In a Relationship” status update and his cover photo is of he and Candus with their arms around each other. I saw that months ago, unfortunately, suspected the sickening truth. It was a bit surprising to hear Jose come out with it, though. He claims that he was drinking one night with Candus and Hunter and they confessed to him that they had sex but asked him not to tell Ally. Hunter was 14. Jose didn’t report Candus for rape. I know he’s said that he regrets a lot now, especially not calling the police to report what he witnessed, but what was the real reason that he didn’t report it? He claims it was due to his “mental state,” not sure what that has to do with anything, unless his mental state at the time involved a pedophilic relationship with Summer.
Summer ran away regularly and had to be tracked down.
Jose said that Summer was a runner and that he and Candus had to track her down several times and bring her home. That information is the polar opposite to how Candus and Don describe Summer. They both emphatically state that Summer knew better than run into woods and that she wouldn’t have gone off anywhere on her own. However, Jose tells the story that Summer was so eager to escape the house that Candus pushed a sofa against the basement door downstairs so Summer couldn’t get it open.
Remember when Chris asked Candus if Summer could unlock the basement door and Candus said she wasn’t sure? Well, Jose claims that, when he lived there, Summer was adept at locking and unlocking every door in the house (all three of them) and she would have only just turned four at that time. Clearly, if Jose is telling the truth, then Candus is lying about her daughter’s ability to escape as well as her desire to do so.
Lice was a big problem.
First, don’t freak out about lice. They are just little bugs that like living in human hair. They don’t cause harm and aren’t overly dirty. In fact, lice prefer crawling in clean hair because greasy hair makes it hard for them to hang on to the hair shafts. No one likes having lice, but getting rid of them is a monumental task, especially in a house full of children and pets. Is it likely that Candus shaved Summer’s hair because of lice? Yes, it’s possible. Shaving the hair removes the need to pick through for the live bugs and nits.
When my daughter was in grade school, she got lice twice. Her hair was thick and each time it took almost two weeks of daily picking to remove all the nits. Toys, including Barbies, My Little Ponies, anything that has hair or fur, had to be bagged up and put into storage for two weeks to let any eggs die, and of course there was the expense of Nix and Tea Tree Oil for treatment. There is a necessary process that doesn’t work if you cut corners.
Considering all the toys were heaped together at the Wells’ home and knowing that Candus does not have strong organizational housekeeping skills, also considering that she had three kids to treat, it’s safe to say that if Candus encountered this issue, she most likely took the easy way out and shaved Summer’s hair. It may have been a far better alternative to forcing her to sit still for hours while Candus went through her hair, who knows. I do not view shaving a child’s hair due to lice as child abuse. Lazy, perhaps, and I wouldn’t have done it to my daughter, but I did shave my son’s hair. I shaved it every so often anyway, so it wasn’t anything unusual or upsetting.
Point is, lice is a part of life and is not synonymous with being dirty or poor.
My Thoughts
I know my opinion of Jose’s interview with Justice 4 All isn’t going to be popular. For Justice’s part, great job! You nailed it, kiddo. You can’t help it if Jose is a skeezeball.
I’ve already been reading the buzz on social media and see that many people are openly showing support for Jose and voicing their appreciation for his candor. Compared to Candus and her mother, who have provided very little in the way of actual fact since Summer disappeared, Jose is forthcoming with all kinds of details that have been unavailable before now. He appears frank and open and I totally understand how and why people would willingly want to believe his account. Michelle After Dark offered a heart-felt thank you to Jose for coming out and speaking about Summer and giving us all a better view of who she was, which was information that we have all been craving. I echo her thanks for that.
But let’s keep our minds sharp and not be swayed by sentiment and the appearance of good works. Jose is a grown man who moved into a home with small children and a battered wife and started calling the shots. He even went toe-to-toe with Don after he came home. Jose was “in” there. He had a groove carved out for himself and he didn’t want it challenged, then Don came back and suddenly he had another predator to share territory with and he didn’t back down easily. That tells me he was pretty motivated to stay right where he was in the dingy, disgusting basement. So, please, tell me, what in the hell was keeping Jose down there?
The Gunn Journal 