Assistant public defender Lindsay Garner speaks to her client, Alexander Ken Jackson, as he appears for his initial court appearance via video conference at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
CEDAR RAPIDS — “This was a horrendous murder,” Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker said Wednesday morning in Linn County District Court during the initial appearance for accused triple homicide suspect Alexander Ken Jackson.
“This was more than just a murder, it was an execution of the defendant’s mother, father and sister,” Decker added. “Furthermore, the defendant’s concocted story of a phantom burglar shows the defendant acted out of malice and calculated intent to get away with these murders.”
Decker requested the court set Jackson’s bond at $3 million cash — $1 million for each of his slain family members — which was granted by 6th Judicial District Judge Casey Jones, who presided over the hearing.
Sixth Judicial District Judge Casey Jones presides over the initial court appearance for Alexander Ken Jackson at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Jackson, 20, of Cedar Rapids, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of his father, Jan Perry Jackson, 61, his mother Melissa Ferne Jackson, 68, and his sister Sabrina Hana Jackson, 19.
The case marks the city’s first triple homicide in nearly 40 years, according to the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
The charges against Jackson come after his family was found shot to death Tuesday morning in their home in northeast Cedar Rapids.
Sabrina Jackson
According to the criminal complaint, Cedar Rapids Police officers were called at 8:23 a.m. Tuesday to 4414 Oak Leaf Ct. NE in the Oak Creek subdivision.
Jackson made the call, the complaint states, telling the 911 dispatcher he and his father had been shot by a male intruder.
When police arrived, they found Jan, Melissa and Sabrina Jackson had been fatally shot. The victims were each in different rooms of the house, the document states.
Alexander Jackson had suffered a gunshot wound to the foot.
Jackson told investigators he was asleep when the attack on his family began, the complaint says. The sound gun gunfire woke him, he claimed, adding he was shot while struggling with a masked intruder over a rifle.
Police said a .22-caliber Browning semi-automatic rifle that is believed to be the murder weapon was recovered inside the residence.
Jackson told investigators that he and his father had left the rifle on the fireplace after cleaning it the night before, the complaint states.
Public safety department spokesman Greg Buelow hasn’t released any additional details about the firearm, citing the police department’s ongoing investigation.
Buelow also said investigators believe the four Jackson family members were the only people living in the home.
Police said investigators found no signs of forced entry or any indications the home had been burglarized.
Jackson was arrested shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter, who will be prosecuting the case, told The Gazette that investigators presented the case to the Linn County Attorney’s Office Tuesday.
Slaughter and Assistant County Attorney Jordan Schier went to the residence Tuesday afternoon and walked through the crime scene with investigators before concluding that Jackson should be charged with the murders.
Jackson has no previous criminal history, Slaughter also confirmed.
Alexander Ken Jackson (right) is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his father, mother and sister. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Investigators said Jackson denied shooting his family, but did say that his father recently had told him that he “needed to find a job or move out of the residence,” the complaint states.
Family moved from Oregon in 2011
Neighbors who spoke with The Gazette Tuesday described the family as good neighbors and nice people.
Ashok Parikh, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, recalled the family moved in next door about 10 years ago. The Jackson house sits across a private road from Parikh’s home.
“I was just talking to Melissa maybe four or five days ago,” Parikh said.
Parikh said he was sitting outside watching city workers clear the last of the tree debris leftover from the Aug. 10 derecho when Melissa Jackson walked over to say hello.
“I told her my daughter’s friend had just bought a house in Oregon — and they (the Jacksons) are originally from Oregon — so we were talking about that,” he recalled.
Records from the Cedar Rapids Assessor’s Office show the Jackson family bought the house in 2011, and public records confirm the family had moved to Cedar Rapids from Oregon.
In the 10 years they’ve been neighbors, Parikh said he had never seen or heard anything to indicate there were problems within the Jackson family.
Alexander and Sabrina were students at the University of Iowa in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, according the Associated press.
During his initial appearance Wednesday Jackson — clad in a yellow jumpsuit — sat silently while Decker read the criminal complaint detailing the deaths of Jackson’s family members.
Aside from stating his name at the start of the hearing and requesting a public defender at its conclusion, he did not speak.
The judge assigned the case to the Linn County Public Defender’s Office and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Friday, June 25.
Cedar Rapids Public Safety’s Buelow said a search of the police department’s archives dating back to 1959 revealed only two recorded triple homicides., including Tuesday’s murders.
The previous triple homicide, Buelow said, occurred on Nov. 15, 1982, when three family members — including two children — were stabbed to death.
Two Cedar Rapids men — Bruce Farris, who was 23 at the time, and Michael Rohn, who was 18 — were charged in the deaths.
In addition to triple homicides, Cedar Rapids has seen three double homicides since 2014 — two in 2014 and one in 2018.
Comments: (319) 398-8238; kat.russell@thegazette.com.
"triple" - Google News
June 17, 2021 at 03:37AM
https://ift.tt/35xUEEc
Triple murder suspect Alexander Jackson told police intruders killed his family, court document shows - The Gazette
"triple" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3dc0blF
https://ift.tt/2WoIFUS
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Triple murder suspect Alexander Jackson told police intruders killed his family, court document shows - The Gazette"
Post a Comment