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Jason Jones will learn his fate at April 10 hearing
HARTINGTON — Convicted murdered Jason Jones will learn April 10, 2026 if he will face the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in prison.
He was convicted in September of 2024 of killing Laurel residents Gene Twiford, his wife, Janet Twiford, their daughter, Dana Twiford, and neighbor, Michelle Ebeling. He then set fire to the two homes they resided in and burned them down.
A three-judge panel consisting of Cedar County District Judge Bryan Meismer, Patrick Heng and Timothy Burns heard evidence and arguments in a two-hour mitigation hearing Thursday in Cedar County District Court.
The hearing was held to determine if the panel feels there is enough evidence to warrant the death penalty or if mitigating circumstances would instead warrant him a sentence of life in prison.
The three judges must now weigh the evidence presented Thursday, as well as written briefs from the defense and prosecuting attorneys to determine if Jones' case meets the legal standard for the death penalty. The attorneys were ordered to submit the briefs no more than 60 days after Thursday's hearing. The attorneys then have 14 days to respond to questions or arguments raised in the briefs.
Jones' Defense Attorney, Todd Lancaster, told judges Thursday he believes there are four mitigating factors involved in the case, so his client should be sentenced to life in prison and not the death penalty.
— Jones has no significant history of prior criminal activity.
— Jones acted under unusual pressure or influences or under the domination of Carrie Jones.
— The crime was committed while Jones was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance.
— Jones is a military veteran. Lancaster also presented several non-statutory mitigators, he felt the judges should consider.
These include Jason Jones’ mental health problems; his ability to adapt to being incarcerated; the fact he tried to offer to plead guilty and waive a jury determination of aggravating circumstances; his record of good conduct since being incarcerated at the Nebraska Department of Corrections; the unlikeliness he would be a threat to society; his strong work ethic; close and strong family ties.
“These are things such as he's a loyal person, he's generous, hardworking, has a history of protecting others, has, again, a mental health diagnosis, has accepted responsibility for his actions,” Lancaster said. “It's kind of a catch-all of other things that I think the evidence we produce shows that there's circumstances about his life and his life circumstances that should mitigate against the death sentence.”
Corey O’Brien, special deputy Cedar County attorney, said he’d counter Lancaster’s mitigation evidence in his written argument.
O’Brien said he would not concede Carrie Jones’ “unusual pressure or influences” is a mitigating factor.
“Carrie Jones did some things to steer her husband toward committing this crime, but she did not exert such a pressure he got to a point where he had backed himself into a corner and had nowhere else to turn,” O’Brien said, noting that Carrie did not force Jason to drive to Sioux City to buy special gas cans or purchase gas to be used to destroy evidence and burn the houses down.
