Jury begins deliberations

DAKOTA CITY — A Dakota County jury was handed Jason Jones’ murder case for deliberation Wednesday afternoon after hearing nearly two hours of closing arguments.
District Judge Bryan Meismer submitted the case to the jury at 1:40 p.m. Jurors deliberated until about 7:15 p.m. but had not yet reached a verdict. They were sequestered at a South Sioux City hotel and will return to the Dakota County Courthouse at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Jurors are tasked with deciding whether Jones, 44, is guilty of four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony and two counts of first-degree arson in connection to the shooting deaths of Gene Twiford, 86, and his wife, Janet Twiford, 85; their daughter, Dana Twiford, 55; and Michele Ebeling, 53, in the early-morning hours of Aug. 4, 2022, in Laurel.
Jones is accused of fatally shooting the Twifords after forcing himself into their home and intentionally setting their 503 Elm St. home ablaze before entering Ebeling’s 209 Elm St. house, killing her and starting her home on fire.
The case was moved out of Cedar County after Meismer determined that Jones could not receive a fair trial there.
In her 43-minute closing, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Sandra Allen laid out the state’s case, which was presented to the jury through dozens of witnesses and more than 1,000 evidentiary exhibits over about 10 days. She said it’s difficult to come up with words to describe what happened in Laurel.
“It's hard to imagine that four people were gunned down in cold blood in a town the size of Laurel …,” Allen said. “The word that comes to my mind is senseless. This was a senseless crime that makes absolutely no sense. (There’s) no reason why these people were murdered, but they were, and the evidence in this case that was presented during trial establishes that beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Allen highlighted evidence that the state believes shows premeditation, including Jones purchasing gas cans and backpacks the day before the killings; text messages he sent to his wife stating he could kill Gene Twiford; phone calls to his mother in which he talks about Ebeling being possessed; and messages and GPS data showing he was driving around Laurel the day before the killings looking for Gene Twiford.
There also was a plethora of evidence found at both the Twiford and Ebeling residences linking Jones to the crimes.
Investigators located the Ruger 57 semi-automatic pistol used to shoot the Twifords on the family’s living room floor with Jones’ DNA on it, plus a pop bottle, gas can, gun magazine, pry bar and lighter outside the home, all of which had Jones’ DNA.

A backpack in Ebeling’s home contained receipts to a number of businesses where Jones made purchases. A lighter and flashlight on the Ebeling property contained Jones’ DNA, as did a bullet found on the floor of her home.
A .44 semi-automatic pistol found inside the dresser next to Jones’ bed also contained his DNA.

A forensic scientist specializing in firearms had testified that the bullet on Ebeling’s floor was fired from the pistol found in Jones’ dresser.
In phone calls Jones had with his mother since the killings, he talked about Gene Twiford’s behavior toward Carrie Jones, detailing how Twiford harassed his wife and others in Laurel. Jason Jones also alleged that Ebeling and her fiancé, Brian Welch, were demonically possessed and would sit outside their home in their underwear.
Allen said there was no evidence to back Jones’ statements, calling them “absurd.”
“He's ranting and raving, trying to justify to his mother why he went and murdered four people; that’s all he’s doing,” Allen said.
There had been evidence that Gene Twiford would make sexually inappropriate comments toward people in Laurel, but witnesses to Twiford’s behavior knew he was a jokester and considered him harmless, according to testimony.
Allen, calling Jones “a pretty bad arsonist,” argued that Jones had accidentally started himself on fire while setting the Twiford home ablaze. As he exited the residence, he stopped, dropped and rolled in the backyard, leaving behind several pieces of charred fabric from the clothes he was wearing, the prosecutor said.
The defense had alleged that Jones intended to die by suicide. A note created on his iPad believed to have been addressed to Carrie Jones suggested Jason Jones planned to take his life.
The note, in part, states: “Yes, I went with them, setting up my own Greek funeral pyre, a la Darth Vader, took my tools with me, too.” It was a reference to suicide by fire.
Allen said that if Jones wanted to kill himself, he could have done so by shooting himself with either of the guns used to kill the victims or knives found in both his bedroom and the Twifords’ living room.
“So we know four people were murdered,” Allen said. “We have sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jason Jones is the one who pulled the trigger on all four of those individuals: Janet Twiford, Gene Twiford, Dana Twiford and Michelle Ebeling.”
In his own 43-minute closing, defense attorney Matthew McDonald argued the state did not present sufficient evidence to prove Jones premeditated any of the killings. McDonald, just as he did during his opening statement nearly two weeks ago, said Jones was responsible for killing the Twifords but maintained Jones was not in his right mind when the homicides happened.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I told you in the beginning that we're not hiding the ball in this case,” McDonald said. “We told you up front: Mr. Jones did kill the Twifords, and you will be able to hold him accountable for that. … What you're going to have to determine for the Twifords, for each one, is, was it first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter?
"So you're going to hold him accountable. The question is, what's appropriate based off of his mental state at the time of his crimes? That's really what it boils down to.”
The defense took the stance that prosecutors could not prove that Jones killed Ebeling, implicating Carrie Jones in Ebeling’s death. McDonald pointed to testimony from Ebeling’s neighbor, Sherry Pallas, that Pallas saw a person with long hair exiting Ebeling’s residence around 3 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2022. Pallas, though, did not provide that information to law enforcement.
There is evidence that once Carrie Jones arrived home from work at 3 a.m., she and Jason Jones were seen by neighbor Royce Fairley coming around the side of Ebeling’s home.
Prosecutors suggest Carrie Jones arrived at home, didn’t see her husband and shortly thereafter saw a fire at Ebeling’s house across the street, leading to her going to Ebeling’s house to see what happened.
McDonald said Jason Jones did not have a bone to pick with Ebeling, referring to evidence that Ebeling and Welch would stalk Carrie Jones, giving her motive to kill.
As for the Twifords, the defense attorney said Jason Jones didn’t know that Dana or Janet Twiford even existed.
McDonald alluded to Jones’ phone calls with his mother as well as testimony that parts of the calls included Jones making mention of having mental health issues.
“This doesn't make any sense, unless you have mental health issues,” McDonald said. “Nobody would have done this except somebody that has mental health issues. Why is that important? Because it goes to his mental state, premeditation, intentional murder.”
McDonald conceded Jones would likely spend the rest of his life in prison as a result of convictions for second-degree murder or manslaughter, weapon use and arson for his crimes at the Twiford house.
He argued Jones is guilty of second-degree arson, not first-degree arson, in that the Twifords were not living when their home was set on fire.
“Don’t let the state overcharge this and let them tell you what to convict him of,” McDonald said. “Convict him of the facts and the elements and what he should be convicted of.”
Allen, though, argued that there was no evidence that Jones knew the Twifords were, in fact, dead when he set their house on fire.
Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty against Jones, alleging that aggravating circumstances existed in each victim’s killing.
If the jury convicts Jones, an aggravation hearing would follow, after which the jury would decide whether the alleged aggravators exist.
In the event the jury determines there are aggravating circumstances, a three-judge panel headed by Meismer would review the case and preside over a mitigation hearing, ultimately deciding whether Jones should be sentenced to death or life in prison.
It likely would be several months before Jones’ sentencing is determined.
Carrie Jones, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Gene Twiford, tampering with evidence and being an accessory to murder. She is not accused of killing Gene Twiford, but she is alleged to have pushed her husband to kill Twiford because of Twiford’s alleged sexually inappropriate behavior.
Carrie Jones also is accused of harboring her husband after the killings and disposing of the clothes he was wearing at the time of the killings. Her next court date is scheduled for late November.