Alexander Jackson: Iowa student, 22, who killed parents and sister gets 3 life sentences
LINN COUNTY, IOWA: A student from Iowa who brutally murdered his parents and sister inside the family's home will spend the rest of his life in prison. After the cold-blooded killings in June 2021, Alexander Ken Jackson shot himself in the foot and attempted to stage a home invasion.
On Friday, March 3, Lars G Anderson, the Linn County Chief District Judge handed down three life sentences to the 22-year-old man without the possibility of parole. Jackson fatally shot his sister, Sabrina Jackson, 19, mother, Melissa Jackson, 68, and father Jan Jackson, 61, and the convicted murderer is set to serve each of the life sentences consecutively, reports Law&Crime.
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'Abhorrent, heinous, and brutal'
Monica Slaughter, the prosecutor in the case specifically requested the court to order the life sentences to be served consecutively. During the sentencing hearing, she argued that each of the three "abhorrent, heinous, and brutal" killings were criminal acts and pointed out that the Jackson family's death "shook the community to its core," reported The Gazette.
Jackson shot his sister twice, one through her eye and another in her chest. He shot his mother twice in the head from a close range whereas his father took five shots in multiple areas, including the stomach, neck, and head. Before he shot his family members, he stood "up close and personal" with each of them. They were reportedly shot to death in different rooms of the home.
Alexander Jackson staged home invasion
After executing the murders, Jackson dialed 911 and shot himself in the foot to blame the brutal murders on a fictitious attacker. The body camera footage of the responding officers who arrived at the scene showed him lying on the ground with a gunshot wound on his foot. Jackson described the intruder as a Black man who wore black and claimed that he struggled with the attacker after he woke up from the porch when he heard a sound while he was asleep. However, no evidence to support his claims was found and there was no evidence of stolen items, forced entry, or anyone outside of his immediate family's presence in their home on the day of the slayings.
BODYCAM: Defendant #AlexanderJackson seen on bodycam on the floor, in the hall, with a bloody footprints leading to him. His father is dead on the living room floor. Officers asked what happened, "He came down, there was a man...." pic.twitter.com/X2KgCtVbPB
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) January 17, 2023
What led to brutal murder of Jackson family?
Before the murders, Jackson and his father had an argument where his father told him either to find a job or find some other place to live. The Jackson family's estate will reportedly be inherited by other family members as at the time of the murder Jackson who only had $30 left in his bank account attempted to inherit an amount of more than $2 million from the estate. The other family members who will inherit the estate will also be paid $150,000 in restitution from Jackson in addition to his prison sentences, according to the court order, reports Law&Crime.