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DAKOTA CITY - The last time Gail Curry spoke to her mother, Janet Twiford, they were texting back and forth about issues Twiford was having with receiving pictures on her cell phone.
A few hours earlier on Aug. 3, 2022, Curry's father, Gene Twiford, stopped by her home — part of his daily routine.
Curry spoke to her sister, Dana Twiford, Aug. 2 - two days before.
And now there's always a before and after for Curry and other family members whose lives were forever changed at the hands of Jason Jones.
Curry's emotional testimony came on the second day of 44-year-old Jason Jones' trial, accused of shooting Gene, Janet and Dana Twiford, as well as Michele Ebeling in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, 2022.
Jones is accused of fatally shooting the Twifords at their home at 503 Elm St. in Laurel, and Ebeling at her home, 209 Elm St. He allegedly set fire to the houses after the killings.
He was arrested at his home, located across the street from Ebeling's, by the Nebraska State Patrol's SWAT team the day following the slayings, after investigators found evidence at both crime scenes allegedly linking him to the killings.
Curry said her father, at age 86, had been having some memory issues, as well as physical health problems. A fall and injury in the spring of 2022 near his woodworking shop adjacent to his Laurel home had led his family to install two security cameras. The motion detection cameras did not record but could be viewed live by anyone with access and also provided notifications of movement.
One of the security cameras wasn’t working properly in the shop and had been moved to the Twifords' sun room and faced the living room about one week prior to the murders.
On Aug. 4, 2022, Curry woke up at her usual 7 a.m. to find an alert on her phone that motion was detected in her parents' home four hours earlier -at 3:02 a.m. She recalled not being concerned about the alert, chalking it up to her father checking on the house in the night.
But within the hour, she received a call from a neighbor about firemen trying to access her parents' back door. She left in a hurry and arrived to “just chaos' and smoke coming from her parents' home.
“I didn't know at the time what was going on at Michele's,' Curry said of all of the first responders and law enforcement flooding the street. “I kept asking, ‘Is Mom and Dad’s car in the attached garage? Are they in there?’ No one would respond.'
She was prevented from entering the house and was eventually notified by Laurel Police Chief Ron Lundahl that her parents and sister were dead.
Curry said she did not have any knowledge of her parents or sister knowing the Joneses or Ebeling. She described her father as a “jokester” who loved talking to people.
“Anybody he would see, he would talk to,” she said.
Brian Welch said his fiancee, Ebeling, is usually beside him in the cab of his truck while he worked hauling livestock. But in his early-August 2022 trip, Ebeling didn't come with him due to a doctor's appointment.
The couple talked for two hours on the phone, hanging up at 1 a.m. Two hours later, Ebeling would be dead.
Welch said he never met Jason Jones and only spoke to Carrie Jones once - when he complimented her on the Christmas decorations in her yard. When he talked to her, he didn't even know her name.
“Most of the time, she turned her back to us and walked off,” he said.
He was not aware that Ebeling etfer knew the Joneses.
Welch said he had met the Twifords just around town at the grocery store or doctor’s office. He described Gene, Janet and Dana as all being friendly.
There were no known disputes between any of the parties, he said.
That is until December 2022 when Carrie Jones allegedly threatened to kill Welch, he said, referring to the protection order he filed shortly before she was arrested in connection with the murders.
As far as the Joneses saying Welch walked around outside in his underwear?
“Now that'd be kind of stupid, wouldn't it?' he said.
Two Nebraska State Patrol investigators also testified Friday: Investigator Tim Doggett, Nebraska State Patrol - Designated as lead investigator in the quadruple homicide case in Laurel - the first homicide investigation of his career - Was attending homicide training in Lincoln when called to the scene - Detailed investigation actions and observations at the Ebeling home - Detailed the collection of evidence inside and outside of the Ebeling home, including a shell casing found on Ebeling's body near her groin area.
- Explained injuries on Ebeling's body, her burnt clothing and blood stains.
There was also a strong odor of gasoline and her clothing was moist in some areas, he said.
- Verified a video walk-through of the one-bedroom, one-bathroom house Ebeling lived in with Welch. Significant charring in both the bedroom and living room areas were noted along with the locations of a live round, spent shell casing, a red gas can, black backpack and other evidence: Welch said the black backpack, doll and plaid slippers found in the home did not belong to him or Ebeling. In the photographs and video, a Bible could be seen undamaged on the living room coffee table.
- Indicated which evidentiary items were swabbed for collection of DNA. No fingerprints were collected. The defense questioned why DNA collected from the storm door and exterior door, and the nozzle of a gas can were not sent into the crime lab for DNA testing. Doggett explained that not every single piece of evidence is able to be processed by the crime lab due; to the sheer volume of items and its capacity for testing.
Investigator Jeremy Hampton, Nebraska State Patrol - Testified to his observations of Ebeling's body including varying degrees of burns on her legs, feet, hands and back. He also said he observed stippling - gunshot residue which occurs when unburnt gunpowder particles strike the skin, causing superficial injury - around her gunshot wounds.
- Estimated gun shot from an intermediate range - about two feet away to cause the injuries to Ebeling. Under cross examination, Hampton said determining gun range by stippling is not an exact science and there are many different factors that could’ve played a part in the stippling pattern.
- Detailed the collection of DNA from Ebeling's body, including under fingernails, both hands, all of the fingers and inside her mouth.
- Explained the results from a trajectory analysis he performed at the Ebeling home, examining “defects' made by bullets striking items. He said it would’ve been difficult for a gun to be fired from outside the home to make a particular defect found in stacked boxes inside the doorway. However, on cross examination Hampton said the gun could've been fired wliile sticking through a broken window.
