In phone calls with mother, Jones says Laurel homicide victims ‘were not innocent’
DAKOTA CITY — A Dakota County jury on Tuesday heard audio from three phone calls between Jason Jones and his mother before prosecutors rested their case against Jones on the ninth day of testimony in the Laurel man’s murder trial.
The phone calls depict Jones speaking poorly of the four people killed on Aug. 4, 2022, as well as Jones saying multiple times that “they weren’t innocent.”
Jones, 44, is being held at the Nebraska Department of Corrections’ Reception and Treatment Center on 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 Ebeling, 53, in the early-morning hours of Aug. 4, 2022, in Laurel. He allegedly set fire to the victims’ respective homes after killing them.
The trial, which Jones has waived his presence at, was moved out of Cedar County by District Judge Bryan Meismer earlier this year because of extensive media coverage there.
The reception and treatment center, a prison facility in Lincoln, is where Jones has been housed since his discharge from the hospital where he was treated for severe burns for 12 weeks. It’s the same prison from which he made several phone calls to his mother. The calls occurred on Nov. 9, 2023, Jan. 23 and Feb. 22. Each audio recording was partially redacted.
Within the calls, Jones did not explicitly admit responsibility for the homicides, but he made several statements suggesting he had a motive to kill the victims.
In the November conversation, Jones’ mother tells her son she wishes he could tell her “all of it about the neighbor across the street (Ebeling).”
“I don’t know who did it, but both her and her boyfriend (Brian Welch) were freaking possessed, like demonically,” Jones replied.
He claimed that Ebeling and Welch, who lived at 209 Elm St., would sit on lawn chairs in front of their home in only their underwear and stare across the street at 206 Elm St., where Jason Jones and his wife, Carrie, lived. Welch was not home on the night Ebeling was killed.
Carrie Jones would do landscaping work outside their home, and Ebeling and Welch would come outside and watch her, Jason Jones said. And as soon as Carrie Jones went back inside, Ebeling and Welch would do the same, he alleged.
Jason Jones also told his mother that his neighbors across the street would regularly walk back and forth in front of the Jones home, to which Jason Jones said he would “chase” them back to their house.
“I’d chase them across the street, and I’d see them, their eyes were black,” Jones said on the phone call. “And they were just — they had this look on their face like they knew who I was and they wanted to kill me for some reason.
“Like we didn’t know them for nothing. And you know, I don't know what happened in the end, I don't know who took care of it. But you know, it wasn't me, but I can tell you that much.”
“Really?” Jones’ mother said.
Jones then detailed Gene Twiford’s behavior toward Carrie Jones and other women in Laurel, explaining how Twiford had been reported by multiple businesses for making sexually inappropriate comments toward people.
In the January phone call, Jones’ mother tells her son that she hates that he’s in prison as well as the situation he’s in.
“I hate this for your life,” she said.
Jones responded: “It was bad for my life, but it was good for my soul in the end.”
Jones’ mother told her son she still wanted to know everything.
“They weren't innocent,” he said. “Whoever, you know, had something to do with it, it obviously got out of hand. It was a little extreme, but it wasn't unwarranted. They were not innocent.”
He went on to describe Gene Twiford as a “piece of (expletive),” adding that “somebody went and did something about him.”
“They weren't just innocent people minding their own business in their house,” he said.
But Jones contradicted that statement by telling his mother that Janet and Dana Twiford were never seen around town. He alleged that Gene Twiford kept his wife and daughter, who had a mental disability, within the confines of the family’s home all the time. He claimed nobody had seen Janet Twiford “in eight years.”
Gene Twiford, a military veteran, contributed to the eventual recognition of U.S. Highway 20 in Nebraska as a National Medal of Honor Highway. Jones mentioned Twiford’s veteran status, saying “a lot has happened” since Twiford served, adding that he didn’t want Twiford to be portrayed at trial as some “angel” who did a lot for veterans.
Jones’ mother did not speak much within the recordings played for the jury. Her son continued on about a sexual comment Twiford made to Carrie Jones at the post office — Jones’ tone was angry and his sentences filled with profanity. His mother could be heard telling Jones on multiple occasions to calm down.
Jones went on to allege that law enforcement encouraged Carrie Jones to seek a harassment protection order against Gene Twiford after Carrie Jones reported Twiford’s behavior. But Jason Jones said his wife was hesitant to go to court against Twiford because she was embarrassed about the situation.
After ranting about a handful of other topics, Jones returned his attention to the victims, saying Ebeling and Welch were “just as (expletive)-ed up as (Gene Twiford) was.”
In the February call, Jones’ mother told her son they were going to have a “long chat” about the homicides “when this is all said and done.” She said she was going to tell her son some things he didn’t want to hear.
“So we’re going to have a chat, but of course not until they prove that you’re the one that actually did this,” she said.
In that call, Jones said it was “unspeakable” and “horrific” what happened to the Twifords, but if Gene Twiford had Janet and Dana Twiford “locked in the house where nobody even knew they existed, nobody had seen his wife in eight years and nobody knew that he had a daughter…”
Jones’ mother cut her son off, repeatedly telling him to stop, adding that Jones was “going a little too far here.”
The calls were played for the jury prior to testimony from Nebraska Attorney General investigator Michael Maseth.
Defense attorney Matthew McDonald asked Maseth about a November 2022 phone call in which Jones mentioned having a mental health issue, which could go toward the defense’s theory that Jones experienced a mental break on the night of the homicides, thus rendering him incapable of premeditating the killings.
But Maseth said Jones did not have a “long discussion” about his mental health and only mentioned it.
Other notes from Tuesday:
— The state rested its case against Jones shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday.
— The defense called Sherry Pallas as its lone witness before resting its case.
— As a result of Pallas’ testimony, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Corey O’Brien announced the prosecution’s plans to call Laurel Police Chief Ron Lundahl as a rebuttal witness on Wednesday.
— Defense attorney Todd Lancaster made a motion for a directed verdict specific to the charge of first-degree murder of Ebeling, arguing that the state hadn’t proved the element of premeditation in Ebeling’s death.
Lancaster also requested a directed verdict pertaining to the two arson counts against Jones. According to state statute, a person commits first-degree arson when they intentionally set a building or dwelling on fire when a person is present in the building at that time and the offender either knows that fact or “the circumstances are such as to render the presence of a person therein a reasonable probability.”
Lancaster, acknowledging his argument was “morbid,” said there was “no doubt” that the victims were deceased before their homes were set on fire. A person is a living person, he said.
O’Brien objected to Lancaster’s motion for a directed verdict, saying there was sufficient evidence of premeditation in Ebeling’s killing. As for the arson counts, O’Brien argued there is no specific case law stating when it’s appropriate for a jury to consider whether a person is no longer a person.
Meismer denied Lancaster’s motions, but he did say the jury would receive instructions that would allow them to convict Jones of lesser arson charges.
— Attorneys had an informal jury instruction conference with the judge late Tuesday afternoon. Closing arguments are planned for Wednesday morning.
— Meismer told jurors to pack overnight bags in the event their deliberations would continue past Wednesday.
— If jurors convict Jones of first-degree murder, they will be asked to determine whether any of the killings entailed aggravating circumstances. If the jury finds the killings were aggravated, Jones’ case would go before a three-judge panel to determine whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.