Judge grants request for supplemental questions

HARTINGTON – An attorney for a Laurel man accused of four murders is requesting additional questions posed to potential jurors in the case.

Todd Lancaster of the Nebraska Public Advocacy Commission, lawyer of 44-year-old Jason Jones, was granted that motion in Cedar County District Court here last week.

According to the court filing, supplemental questionnaires may address a change of venue in the case.

Similar motions are anticipated in the case against his wife, Carrie Jones, 44, also accused of murder, tampering with evidence and accessory to a felony, stemming from the same incidents on Aug. 4, 2022, however, there had been nothing filed to that affect as of Monday morning.

The Jones’ charges are in connection to the deaths of Gene Twiford, Janet Twiford, Dana Twiford and Michele Shankles-Ebeling.

First responders were called to Shankles-Ebeling’s home at 209 Elm St., Laurel, around 3 a.m. Aug. 4, 2022, to the report of an explosion and house fire.

About five hours later, local law enforcement on scene noticed smoke coming from the Twiford home just a few blocks away. Although the presence of smoke wasn’t evident for several hours, evidence suggests that the Twiford fire actually started first.

All of the victims were found to have gunshot wounds.

Jones was apprehended at his home the morning after the murders with severe burns over his body and was treated at a Lincoln hospital for several weeks before being released to the Nebraska Department of Corrections.

While Jason Jones is considered the principal offender in the case, under Nebraska statutes, Carrie Jones can be found guilty as well if she aided and encouraged him to carry out the killing, according to the attorney general’s office.

At Carrie Jones’ preliminary hearing, investigators testified that she was motivated to murder Twiford after years of his verbal harassment.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her husband.