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Jason, Carrie Jones will soon learn their fate
HARTINGTON — Convicted murderers Jason and Carrie Jones should soon learn their fate.
Carrie Jones, 46, is scheduled to appear before District Court Judge Bryan Meismer at 9 a.m. Thursday in Cedar County District Court for sentencing in the murder of Gene Twiford, as well as for evidence tampering and being an accessory to the crime.
She was convicted Aug. 7 of first-degree murder by a Madison County jury.
Prosecutors said Carrie Jones encouraged her husband to kill Twiford in response to inappropriate comments he had allegedly made to her over a three-year period.
After the killings, prosecutors said she hid her badly burned husband inside their Laurel home and initially withheld information about his crimes from law enforcement. She also disposed of the clothing and boots Jason Jones had been wearing — items investigators were never able to recover.
The case was moved out of Cedar County after defense attorneys argued pretrial publicity surrounding the Aug. 4, 2022, murders of Twiford, 86; his wife Janet, 85; their daughter, Dana, 55; and a neighbor, Michele Ebeling, 53, made it impossible to seat an impartial jury locally.
A mitigation hearing for her husband, Jason Jones, is set for 10 a.m. Nov. 20 at the Cedar County Courthouse. A three-judge panel will determine whether Jones should receive the death penalty for the four murders.
Jason Jones was convicted in September 2023 on 10 felony charges, including the killings of all four Laurel residents.
Prosecutors said he shot all four victims and then set their homes on fire.
The Nov. 20 mitigation hearing will mark the first time the three-judge panel reviews evidence specific to sentencing.
The defense is expected to argue that Jones’ actions should result in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors will present evidence they believe justifies a death sentence.
After the hearing, the panel will deliberate and prepare written sentencing orders. Those decisions will be read aloud in court at a later date, likely several weeks after the hearing concludes.
Under Nebraska law, all three judges must agree unanimously to impose the death penalty. If they do not reach unanimity, Jones will automatically receive a life sentence.
