WE tv episode to feature Woodbridge mother

Though her son was convicted of murder two years ago, Kimberly Jenkins-Snodgrass has never believed he was guilty.

“KK is no saint,” Jenkins-Snodgrass said of her son, Kevin Snodgrass Jr., in an upcoming television show that features his case. “But in the same sense, he is no murderer.”

Snodgrass, now 28, was convicted and sentenced in 2007 to serve 35 years in prison for the December 2006 murder of Jeffery Rasmussen.

Jenkins-Snodgrass, a Woodbridge resident, tells her story in the season premiere of WE tv’s “Secret Lives of Women,” which airs Aug. 18, at 10 p.m.

The episode, “Mothers of Murderers,” focuses on four women whose sons have been convicted of or charged with murder.

Since her son’s conviction, Jenkins-Snodgrass has devoted much of her time and effort to proving his innocence, spending hours reading over court transcripts and hiring her own experts to review the evidence, she says on the show.

“My life has changed in the sense that my career path has changed,” she said. “KK’s case is my career. Do I live it and breathe it? Of course.”

On the show, Jenkins-Snodgrass said she believes prosecutors did not have enough evidence to convict her son and that the witnesses who testified at his trial gave “coerced, rehearsed testimony.”

“There’s too many discrepancies in this case,” she said.

At Snodgrass’ trial in June 2007, prosecutors argued that his motive for killing Rasmussen was revenge. Their theory was that Snodgrass shot Rasmussen in retaliation for Rasmussen’s perceived involvement in the 2003 murder of Maurice McKoy, a friend and roommate of Snodgrass.

Rasmussen was charged in that murder, but the charges were later dropped.

Three years later, on Dec. 17, 2006, the 33-year-old Rasmussen was shot dead outside of his house in the 14400 block of Belvedere Drive in Dale City.

A jury convicted Snodgrass of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony for Rasmussen’s death.

At his sentencing hearing in November 2007 Snodgrass and his mother maintained his innocence, claiming that prosecutors forced the witnesses to testify falsely against him. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder charge and three for the firearms charge.

According to online court records, Snodgrass has since filed appeals, first with the Virginia Court of Appeals, which denied him, and then with the Virginia Supreme Court, which refused the case.

But Jenkins-Snodgrass remains confident that her son is innocent and hopes to prove it one day.

“I can accept the truth, but so far the truth has told me my son is innocent,” Jenkins-Snodgrass said in the episode. “And until I see differently, I will keep fighting.”

The “Mothers of Murderers” episode of “Secret Lives of Women” airs on WE tv (Comcast Channel 117 and Verizon Channel 149 in Prince William County) on Aug. 18 at 10 p.m.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.