A man convicted of killing 4 people in a small Nebraska town faces the death penalty

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A man faces a possible death sentence after being convicted of killing four people in a small northeast Nebraska town.

A jury found 44-year-old Jason Jones guilty Thursday of 10 counts, including four counts of first-degree murder, four felony gun counts and two counts of first-degree arson, according to online court documents.

Jones stands convicted in the August 2022 shooting deaths of Michele Ebeling, 53; Gene Twiford, 86; his wife, Janet Twiford, 85; and their daughter 55-year-old daughter, Dana Twiford. The killings shocked the town of Laurel, which hadn’t seen such violence in more than 100 years.

Prosecutors said during Jones’ trial that he started fires at the victims’ homes after they were killed. A day after the bodies were found, police found Jones in his wife’s house, which sits across the street from Ebeling’s home, suffering from severe burns. He was hospitalized for two months before being released and moved to prison.

Jones was not present at his trial or conviction, citing lingering effects from the burn injuries he suffered.

Jones was linked to the killings and fires through DNA and ballistics evidence, prosecutors said at trial.

The defense team for Jones did not deny that he killed the four victims, but argued during his nearly two-week-long trial that he committed the killings during an episode of mental illness he suffered.

Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty, citing several aggravating circumstances — including that Jones committed multiple killings within a short period and that at least two of the killings were carried out to keep the victims from identifying him.

Jones’ wife, 45-year-old Carrie Jones, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with Gene Twiford’s death, as well as counts of tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a felony. She’s accused of helping her badly burned husband hide while authorities searched for him in the hours after the killings.

Her pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 25.