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MADISON - Testimony in Friday morning’s murder trial here featured another recording of Carrie Jones talking to Nebraska State Patrol investigators.
Jones is on trial in connection with the Aug. 4, 2022, murder of four Laurel residents. Her husband, Jason Jones, was convicted in September 2024 of killing
Gene Twiford, his wife, Janet, and their daughter, Dana, as well as Elm Street neighbor, Michelle Ebelling.
Footage from Nebraska State Patrol investigator Tony Kavin‘s body camera was shown to the jury.
The State Patrol informed Jones they had a warrant for her husband’s arrest and were seeking information about her husband’s whereabouts, his medical condition, and where he was located in the house.
She was not a suspect at the time, Kavin said.
‘’Initially, we just wanted to make sure she was alive, if she was ok and safe, and wanted to know if she would give us the layout of the house,’’ Kavin said.
In the 42-minute video, Carrie Jones said she saw someone ‘’stumbling across the lawn. I was gonna go over to help whoever it was’’ outside Ebbling’s burning house, and then realized it was her husband.
‘’He was burned. He was walking and stumbling. He was in and out of consciousness,’’ she said to the investigator.
When asked how Jason Jones had gotten burned she replied that, ‘’he was in the military. He tried to help people.’’
Jones said she then helped her husband into their house, and helped to peel the burned clothes off of his body before bandaging him up and going to bed herself.
She did not take him to the hospital because, ‘’he’s an adult, he can make his own decisions, and he didn’t want to go to the hospital,’’ she said.
Trooper Kavin then told Jones he was, ‘’questioning if he’s in that bad of shape, why would you not take him to the hospital? Did he say, ‘I did this today, so I can’t go to the hospital?’‘’
Jones replied that was not the case. He was only trying to help, she said.
‘’He was in the military. If he sees something going on, he tries to help somebody.’’
She then let patrolmen look over her phone to check for texts and calls between the pair, but there were none.
When the Troopers informed her they had a warrant for her husband’s arrest, she urged them not to break the door down to get into her house.
‘I’ll let you into the house, you don’t need to kick my door in. I don’t know why you want to kick my door down. I could let you in there. He’s not answering because he’s burned up. I know he’s in bed and he can’t get up. He’s all bandaged up and he can’t move,’’ she told the Troopers.
She was informed, though, that State Patrol protocol would not allow for a civilian to be involved in the situation.
More evidence was presented and several more witnesses were questioned before court was adjourned for a lunch break
