A woman confessed to shooting a Canyon County man. Her then-boyfriend was the killer
In April 2021, Bradley Griffin Jacobs was lured to a remote property southwest of Caldwell, where he was robbed and killed.
A Caldwell woman was initially charged with second-degree murder in the death of the 41-year-old man, and she told police that she shot the victim after he “tried to rape her at knife-point.”
Nearly two years later, after long treks through the court system, two defendants are set to be sentenced in Jacobs’ death, with a different picture of his last hours having emerged.
Authorities arrested Jennika Berry, then 21, in 2021 after she told police she was alone with the victim and shot him. But detectives said in court documents that Berry changed her story multiple times during interviews, leading them to investigate and find out what truly happened.
Jacob Neely, Berry’s then-boyfriend, eventually was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and robbery, and pleaded not guilty to both charges. Court records show he pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge in December as part of a plea deal, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 22.
Charges against Berry were amended to felony robbery, and she pleaded guilty in April 2022. Several sentencing hearings have been continued since, and Berry is now set to be sentenced on March 1.
What happened the night of Bradley Jacobs’ killing?
Court records indicate that Berry picked up Jacobs from his home in the early morning hours of April 9 and drove him to a property on Wagner Road, which is southwest of Caldwell. Police said they later discovered that there was one other person in the vehicle, but that person has not been charged with any crime.
Neely, then 28, was awaiting their arrival on Wagner Road, and he pointed a pistol at Jacobs, telling him to get out of the car and empty his pockets, according to court records. Neely then killed Jacobs, police say, and they found his body later that day.
Jacobs 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 Idaho Statesman.
“Based upon the follow up interviews and witness accounts, it appears that Bradley Jacobs was driven to the location ... with the intention to rob and kill him,” Canyon County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in an affidavit of probable cause for Neely’s arrest. “ ... It appears that Jennika Berry and Jacob Neely planned the crime.”
Authorities said Berry told investigators that she indicated to Neely that Jacobs had made inappropriate sexual comments to her and been sexually aggressive. Jacobs’ relatives told detectives that Berry and Jacobs had been involved in a sexual relationship for about six weeks.
While in custody at the Canyon County jail, Neely was charged with two counts of felony rioting and one misdemeanor count of battery. A jury trial is set for April 3 on those charges; he pleaded not guilty last May.
Neely was transferred to Idaho Department of Correction custody on Jan. 18 and will remain there until sentencing on the manslaughter charge, Canyon County spokesperson Joe Decker told the Statesman in an email.
Reporter Alex Brizee contributed.
