Cedar Rapids man gets three life sentences for 2021 murders of parents, sister
A former University of Iowa student will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of killing his parents and younger sister.
Alexander Jackson, 22, was convicted in January of the 2021 murders of Jan Jackson, 61; Melissa Jackson, 68; and Sabrina Jackson, 19, in their Cedar Rapids home. Alexander Jackson in a 911 call blamed a masked home invader. But prosecutors said Jackson killed his family and shot himself in the foot to conceal his role after his father told him to get a job or move out of the house.
Court filings show investigators were suspicious about several aspects of Jackson's story. The home showed no signs of a break-in and nothing disturbed or missing, and officers found Jackson's re-enactment of a supposed struggle with the intruder over the gun to be "impossible," according to court filings. Each victim was shot two to five times, and some were shot very close range.
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The charges against Jackson, an Eagle scout with no prior criminal record, shocked friends and neighbors, including former classmates who held vigils in honor of the victims. Both Alexander and Sabrina Jackson were enrolled at the University of Iowa's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the time of the killing.
Evidence at Jackson's trial included the murder weapon, a .22 caliber rifle, on which investigators found his fingerprints. Jackson's attorneys argued in post-trial filings that prosecutors failed to provide evidence of a plausible motive or of planning and premeditation by Jackson before the shootings. They also alleged that jurors had impermissibly discussed the case and viewed media coverage about it outside of court.
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District Court Judge Lars Anderson dismissed those arguments. On Friday, he sentenced Jackson to three consecutive life sentences without the chance for parole. Neither Jackson nor other family members who attended spoke at the hearing, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Jackson's sentencing comes just as another Linn County case alleging a family slaying concludes. Ethan Orton, then 17, was charged in 2021 with using a knife and ax to murder his father and mother in their Cedar Rapids home.
Previously:Cedar Rapids teen who allegedly told police he killed his parents pleads not guilty to murder
Orton, who reportedly told police he killed his parents to "take charge of his life," pleaded guilty Feb. 27 to two charges of first-degree murder just before his trial was to begin. Under his plea deal, both sides will recommended he be sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum 50 years to serve before he is eligible for parole.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Cedar Rapids man who murdered family gets three life sentences
