Witness says she saw person with ponytail or braid exit victim’s home

DAKOTA CITY — After prosecutors rested their case Tuesday against homicide suspect Jason Jones, the defense called Sherry Pallas as its lone witness in an attempt to show a Dakota County jury that Jones didn’t kill Michele Ebeling.
Pallas, who considered Ebeling a good friend, lived south of Ebeling and her fiancé, Brian Welch, in Laurel.
Pallas said she heard one gunshot, possibly two, around 3 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2022. When she looked outside toward Ebeling’s home seconds later, she saw a person with a ponytail or braid exiting the house, she said.
Jones is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection to the deaths of Ebeling, Gene Twiford, Janet Twiford and Dana Twiford. He allegedly shot the four victims and set their homes on fire after killing them.
And while Jones is charged with Ebeling’s homicide, Pallas’ testimony supports the defense theory that Jones’ wife, Carrie, is responsible for killing Ebeling.
Pallas couldn’t say for certain whether the person leaving the house was a woman, but said she would guess it was a female based on what she saw. Jason Jones, meanwhile, is bald.
Pallas also testified about an incident later in August 2022 in which Carrie Jones threatened Pallas’ life, prompting Pallas and her husband to seek protection orders against Carrie Jones that November.
In her protection order petition, Pallas wrote that Carrie Jones had told her, “I will kill you two. I will kill everyone in Laurel.”
Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Sandra Allen pounced on the opportunity to go after Pallas’ credibility, asking her why she didn’t immediately tell police what she saw on the morning Ebeling was killed; why she waited until November to file for a protection order following an August altercation with Carrie Jones; and about Laurel Police Chief Ron Lundahl’s request for Pallas to take down a photo she had posted on Facebook showing a sheet covering Ebeling’s body in Ebeling’s yard.
Pallas had testified on questioning by defense attorney Matthew McDonald that when Carrie Jones told her “I’ll kill you…” in August 2022, she interpreted it as though Carrie Jones had killed before and would kill again.
Yet in the protection order petition, Pallas wrote that Carrie Jones had said, “I will kill you two,” referring to Pallas and her husband. Pallas did not write, “I will kill you, too,” which would imply she would kill again.
Allen asked Pallas if she is capable of reading and writing the English language, to which Pallas affirmed, portraying that at the time Pallas sought the protection order, she did not believe that Carrie Jones was saying she had killed before.
During the contentious testimony, Allen also asked Pallas about her husband posting on social media that there’d been a suicide at Ebeling’s home that morning, as well as his interview with a local television station. The prosecutor asked Pallas if she and her husband were using Ebeling’s death as an opportunity to insert themselves in the case and get their “15 minutes of fame.”
A defiant Pallas said her husband hadn’t been asked to take down a social media post about a suicide, although a report from Laurel Police Chief Ron Lundahl stated otherwise.
Prosecutors plan to call Lundahl as a rebuttal witness on Wednesday in light of Pallas’ testimony, which followed testimony by Brandy Porter, a forensic scientist at the Nebraska State Crime Laboratory’s biology unit.
Porter tested various objects inside the Twiford and Ebeling homes for DNA presence.
Jason Jones’ DNA was detected on the Ruger 57 pistol found inside the Twiford’s 503 Elm St. home; on the gun’s magazine; and on a pop bottle, gas can and pry bar found outside the Twiford house.
At Ebeling’s 209 Elm St. property, meanwhile, a flashlight found in Ebeling's driveway also carried Jason Jones’ DNA, as did a bullet found on the floor inside the home.
A .44 semiautomatic pistol used to kill Ebeling and located inside Jason Jones’ dresser also had his DNA on it.