Donna Jou's Killer Back Behind Bars After Meeting Women

The drifter convicted in the 2007 overdose death of Rancho Santa Margarita woman Donna Jou was back behind bars today on a parole violation—after two women who responded to a recent Craigslist ad for a roommate told police about their weird encounters with him.

John Steven Burgess, 42, was booked on suspicion of possessing ammunition—something forbidden by a convicted felon, according to Los Angeles police spokeswoman Karen Rayner. He was picked up at his apartment in the 5500 block of Barton Avenue on Monday, about 8 p.m.

Burgess served for —a San Diego State freshman nursing student whom he met via her Craigslist ad offering math tutoring—with cocaine, heroin and alcohol at a rented home in the Palms area, then dumping her body at sea after she died.

• Sign up to receive the daily Patch newsletter, or follow RSM Patch on Facebook and Twitter.
• If you're a business owner or manager, claim the free listing for your business here.

He fled town and was arrested in Jacksonville, FL, on a crack cocaine charge, then returned to California to face justice.

In December, he was released from prison on a conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

He was taken into custody by police who found that he was in violation of his parole by allegedly being in possession of ammunition, reportedly a single .7 mm bullet for a rifle.

Two women who recently responded to a Craigslist ad offering free rent in exchange for cooking and cleaning told police they figured out who Burgess was after talking with him and finding a card that had his full legal name. He reportedly told the women, both writers, that he had a true-life story he wanted to tell them, and indicated to them that he had put Jou's body in a trash can and dumped her body in the ocean after she overdosed on drugs at one of his parties.

The two women, according to a KTLA report, said that on the day they met Burgess they observed a groggy woman dressed in underwear and shaking uncontrollably. Nevertheless, the women reportedly lived in the apartment for 10 days and during that time Burgess tried to seduce them and allegedly shared marijuana with them. It was only after they found his real name and did an online search that they realized his true identity and contacted police.

"Whatever they observed in the time they were there caused them enough concern that they contacted police," Rayner said.

Burgess, who had a conviction for lewd behavior before he met Jou, was jailed at the LAPD's Hollywood Station and denied bail, she said.

—City News Service