Man arrested for murdering wife who went missing after telling friends she was 'afraid for her life'
MADISON COUNTY, KENTUCKY: Police officials charged a 39-year-old man, the husband of a university professor, on Friday, April 24, months after his wife went missing. Ella Diebolt Jackson, 48, went missing in October last year, and her husband Glenn Jackson was arrested by authorities last week and charged with murder, domestic violence and tampering with physical evidence.
Authorities have said that although the body of the woman, mother-of-one, has not yet been found, officials found a "significant amount" of blood in the trunk of Jackson's car after they searched the home the couple shared together.
Ella, who was a senior lecturer of English at Eastern Kentucky University, was last seen on October 20, 2019 by Jackson. He reported her missing two days later on October 22, according to the Daily Mail.
Investigators have now revealed that Ella, just a few days before her disappearance, had met with a domestic violence advocate. Eastern Kentucky police officials also said that the 48-year-old had also made secret recordings of the arguments she was having with Jackson. She had reportedly become so afraid of her husband that she had told "several individuals that if anything ever happened to her, her husband would be responsible."
Ella had also reached out to her former husband, Jason Hans, a professor of family sciences at the University of Kentucky about the domestic abuse in 2015. Hans, after Jackson's arrest, took to Facebook to write: "After years stuck in a cycle of violence, Ella had recently begun working in earnest with a lawyer on an exit plan."
"Ella loved her boy more than life itself, so she refused to risk it until a fail-safe exit plan was in place," Hans wrote, explaining that he wanted to provide his ex-wife with financial support so that she could leave Jackson, however, she was afraid a divorce meant that her husband could win custody of their child.
The woman's former husband revealed that her messages and rushed phone calls had become regular over the recent years, as she pleaded for help.
"I need your help,' 'I am very scared,' 'I am scared to the point of not being ok to get out of the bedroom to get a cup of milk or change my tampon,' 'I am being awakened at almost 3 in the morning and dragged through the house,' 'It is getting seriously scary and I am very worried about my child and myself," Ella said about Jackson while seeking help from Hans.
"Even as the emotional scars of our respective and all-too-recent histories continued to haunt us, Ella and I quickly developed a deep appreciation and love for one another," Hans added in his social media post. "Although neither of us necessarily needed to be rescued, it's difficult to characterize our experience together as anything less than a mutual rescue."
The family sciences professor explained that despite getting a divorce nearly ten years ago, the couple had remained in touch and were on friendly terms. Reports state that Hans has also obtained guardianship of Ella's six-year-old son on Friday after Jackson's arrest.