Lawyers work to suppress statements in murder case
HARTINGTON – A Laurel woman wants statements she made to law enforcement to be excluded from her murder trial.
Carrie Jones, 45, appeared in Cedar County District court here Monday morning in a three-hour hearing that extended into the afternoon as five law enforcement witnesses testified about statements she made during the investigation into a quadruple murder in Laurel Aug. 4, 2022.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her husband, Jason Jones, in the deaths of his neighbors Gene Twiford, Janet Twiford, Dana Twiford and Michele Shankles-Ebeling in Laurel on Aug. 4, 2022. First responders were called to Shankles-Ebeling’s home in 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. All of the victims were found to have gunshot wounds.
Jason 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. Carrie Jones is accused of the murder of Gene Twiford, tampering with evidence and being an accessory to a felony.
While Jason Jones is considered the principal offender, 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 Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Four officials with the Nebraska State Patrol and Laurel Police Chief Ron Lundahl testified Monday that Carrie Jones was cooperative and responsive throughout several different interviews and was informed of her right to leave at any time. She didn’t appear to be under the influence and responded rationally throughout. Law enforcement didn’t use any threats, promises or inducements to get Jones to talk to them, they said.
She was told she was free to leave at anytime.
Carrie Jones was so cooperative that she drew a diagram of her home to assist investigators and she freely provided her DNA. When her cellphone was taken to conduct a search warrant on it, she contacted Sgt. Brad Higgins to make sure he had her new number. Lundahl said he had previous professional contact with Carrie Jones as she had previously worked as a dispatcher with the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office but did not know her personally.
Prosecutors with the Nebraska State Patrol submitted into evidence audio recordings and officers’ body camera footage from their interactions with her by telephone or in-person. Nebraska State Patrol investigators recorded audio during two interviews with Carrie Jones without informing her she was being recorded. Not telling her she was being recorded on those occasions was deliberate and is a tactic used frequently in criminal investigations, Higgins said. “Sometimes when people think they’re being recorded, they don’t want to talk,” he said.
Investigators detailed interactions stemming from the morning of the murders through her husband’s arrest and through several more months of investigation. Higgins said she wasn’t considered a suspect until an interview earlier in December 2022. Jones was not read her Miranda rights until she was arrested Dec. 16, 2022.
Prosecutors and Jones’ lawyers, Doug and Nathan Stratton, Norfolk, will have until June 24 to submit written arguments on the defense motion to suppress. Judge Bryan Meismer will then take those arguments under advisement and make a ruling at a later time. In other procedural matters in the Carrie Jones case, Corey O’Brien with the Attorney General’s Office will review a supplemental juror questionnaire. The questionnaire is nearly identical to the one sent to a potential jury pool in her husband’s case, Doug Stratton said.
Stratton suggested he would use those responses from the potential jury pool to make a motion for a change of venue. In Jason Jones’ case, a change of venue was successul in getting the trial moved to Dakota County. Motions for discovery and to take depositions were granted and the next court date was set for Aug. 26.
Carrie Jones remains incarcerated at the Boone County Jail.