He killed a man during a robbery outside Caldwell. After 7 years, he could get parole

Mia Maldonado
·2 min read

A Caldwell man who robbed and killed a 41-year-old man in 2021 was sentenced to at least seven years in prison Wednesday but could serve up to 15.

Jacob Neely, 30, was originally charged with first-degree murder and felony robbery after police determined that he — and not his girlfriend at the time — fatally shot Bradley Griffin Jacobs on a remote property southwest of Caldwell. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in July 2021, but court records showed that last December, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal.

Third District Judge Gene Petty sentenced Neely to seven years fixed and eight years indeterminate on manslaughter and robbery counts, meaning he could be eligible for parole after serving seven.

Canyon County spokesperson Joe Decker told the Idaho Statesman in an email that Neely also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and a $5,000 civil penalty.

In April 2021, Neely and his 21-year-old girlfriend at the time, Jennika Berry, had planned to meet at a property on Wagner Road. Court records indicated that Berry picked up Jacobs from his home while Neely awaited their arrival at the property. Neely, then 28, pointed a pistol at Jacobs, telling him to get out of the car and empty his pockets, according to the records, and then killed him.

Police found Jacobs later that day. He was shot once in the lower right chest with a 9 mm firearm, according to a Canyon County Sheriff’s Office affidavit obtained by the Statesman.

Detectives with the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office said in an affidavit of probable cause that Neely and Berry had intentionally planned to rob and kill Jacobs.

Berry was charged with second-degree murder in 2021 after telling police that she was alone with the victim and shot him. Police investigators determined that not to be the case and eventually arrested Neely.

Charges against Berry were amended to felony robbery, and she pleaded guilty in April 2022. She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1.