Mary Jayne Jones Ottumwa Iowa Homicide Victim Boyfriend Art

Mary Jayne Jones (courtesy Des Moines Register)

Mary Jayne Jones

Homicide — SOLVED

Mary Jayne Jones
17 YOA
Blakesburg, IA / Ottumwa, IA
Wapello County
Case Number: 74-00243
April 9, 1974

Mary Jayne Jones, 17, of Ottumwa, Iowa, was found slain in a farmhouse near Blakesburg, Iowa, on Tuesday, Apr ix, 1974. She had been sexually assaulted and shot once in the caput and in one case in the eye at close range with a high-powered burglarize.

UPDATE

OTTUMWA — On Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, Robert "Gene" Pilcher, 68, pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the April 1974 slaying of 17-year-former Mary Jayne Jones.

Pilcher was charged with first-degree murder in November 2012 after government said Dna testify linked him to the criminal offence. Jones was beaten and shot twice at close range.

In January 2014, a judge declared a mistrial afterward jurors said they could not reach a verdict in the case.

Under the plea deal, both sides recommended a 10-year sentence, which Judge Richard Meadows imposed on Pilcher. Pilcher will receive credit for the ii years served since his abort, and also will quality for reductions for adept behavior. He may be out of prison in as piffling as five years.

"I'm glad that it'southward on record, finally, that he did what we always knew he did," said Judith Cabanillas, Jones' sis, who was just 13 when her older sister was killed. "Jayne was special and she would have done beautiful things with her life."

---

Previous Update

Robert Eugene Pilcher, 67, will stand trial in Wapello County offset Jan. 14, 2014.

Gauge declares mistrial

On Th, Jan. 30, 2014, a judge declared a mistrial in the example of the homo charged with first-degree murder in Mary Jayne Jones' death.

After trying for a week, jurors said they could non reach a verdict in the case of 67-year-old Robert "Gene" Pilcher and that any more deliberation would be pointless. Judge Richard Meadows agreed.

Pilcher'southward trial began January. fourteen.

Pilcher was charged in Nov 2012 afterward Dna bear witness linked him to the murder, and has been held in the Wapello County Jail on a $ane one thousand thousand bail since his abort.

Prosecutors asked the guess for a change in venue for the 2d trial, just Guess Richard Meadows denied the asking on Tuesday, April eight, 2014.

Pilcher's new trial is scheduled for this September. If eventually convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence.

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Case summary by Jody Ewing

Mary Jayne Jones, 17, of Ottumwa, Iowa, was found slain in a farmhouse near Blakesburg, Iowa, on Tuesday, Apr nine, 1974. She had been sexually assaulted and shot once in the caput and once in the heart at close range with a high-powered rifle.

Shortly afterwards 5 p.m. on April 9, the Wapello County sheriff'south part received a call from Ernest Marlin, who said his wife had discovered the torso in a farmhouse about seven miles west of Ottumwa.

Wapello Canton in Iowa

Blakesburg in Wapello County

The farm was owned past the Marlin's son, Max Marlin, and the elder Marlin worked the subcontract. Co-ordinate to [then] Wapello County Attorney Sam Erhardt, the Marlin's son was "out west on a vacation" at the time of the slaying. Erhardt said he believed no one was staying at the home at the time of the slaying, although Mr. and Mrs. Marlin had stayed at the house "a couple of nights" before the slaying.

Several guns were found in the business firm, though information technology wasn't determined early in the investigation if whatever of those found was the murder weapon.

[So] Agency of Criminal Investigation (BCI) agent Wayne Sheston, in accuse of investigations, said Jones died of "multiple gunshot wounds." Wapello Canton Medical Examiner Dr. Warren DeKraay confirmed that Miss Jones, an Ottumwa drive-in restaurant employee, died from gunshot wounds to the head and center.

DeKraay said the girl was shot "in one case in the head and in one case in the centre from fairly close range with a burglarize, apparently a pretty loftier-powered rifle, judging from the wounds."

Miss Jones had non been beaten, nor were there signs of a struggle.

The BCI's Crime Laboratory and local constabulary enforcement conducted a thorough crime scene investigation, with several items of evidentiary value nerveless and stored at the Wapello County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office interviewed numerous people and circulated photographs of Jones in efforts to find persons who may accept seen her Tuesday before her death.

Past week'south end, at least i suspect had undergone a lie detector test conducted past the BCI, but government were unable to gather enough prove to charge anyone with Jones' murder.

Came to Iowa to visit pregnant sister

Investigators believed Jones was last seen well-nigh 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, April nine, at the Wedlock Bank and Trust Co. in Ottumwa. She had been employed at Henry'due south Drive-in eating house in Ottumwa for the past nine months, and eatery employees said Jones had non been at work since the previous Friday, believed to exist because of illness.

AP Photo/Courtesy Judith Cabanillas

This 1973 photograph provided by Judith Cabanillas shows her sister, Mary Jayne Jones, a year before the 17-yr-former girl was constitute dead in an Iowa farmhouse.

Mary Jayne Jones had come to Iowa from North Carolina ix months earlier to visit her sister, Mrs. Pat (Jacque) Williams, who was expecting a baby. Jones stayed with her sister until the sis had the baby in November, and had decided to remain in Iowa rather than return to N.C.

Friends described the 5′ 2″ auburn-haired Jones as an "outgoing daughter," and beau employees said she was "a bubbly, super girl."

Roy Ware, owner of the flat building where Jones had occupied a second-flooring, 1-bedroom apartment for "nearly four or five months," said he'd received a letter Midweek, dated April 9, 1974, from Miss Jones. Her rent cheque was in the letter, which said, "You told me to inform you when I have a roommate. Her name is Lynn Guyette," Ware said the letter of the alphabet stated. Ware said Miss Jones was a very good tenant and a great girl.

Vernon Guyette, Jr., Lynn Guyette's brother, said his sis met Miss Jones at Henry's Drive-In, where both were employed. Miss Guyette had been living with Jones for nigh a month.

Regime confirmed Jones had written a letter of the alphabet, postmarked Tuesday, Apr nine, 1974, to friends in North.C. telling of a boyfriend named Fine art who did not desire to get married just who had given her a beautiful ring for Valentine's Mean solar day. The BCI said the beau was not a doubtable in the case.

DNA "Hitting" through CODIS links Pilcher to Law-breaking

On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents and Wapello County Sheriff's deputies arrested Robert Eugene Pilcher, 66, of Des Moines, Iowa in connection with Jones' unsolved 1974 homicide.

DCI agents said Pilcher — who was arrested at the A-1 Cabin in Des Moines — was questioned in the case years ago and released. He is at present accused of sexually assaulting Jones and shooting her in the head and chest earlier leaving her body in his cousin's Wapello County farmhouse. He has been charged with offset-degree murder in the teen's expiry.

Courtesy photograph Google

Robert Pilcher was arrested at the A-1 Motel in Des Moines on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012.

Pilcher had a long list of other crimes committed since 1974 — with DNA samples taken along the way.

New DNA engineering finally caught up with him, cheers to the DCI's Cold Case Unit of measurement, which operated from 2009 through 2011 under a federally funded grant.

Members of the Cold Case Unit resubmitted items collected from the law-breaking scene and from Jones' torso to the DCI Criminal offence Laboratory for additional DNA testing using analysis engineering science not available at the time of the homicide. A Dna profile was adult from the resubmitted evidence and entered into the Combined DNA Index Organization (CODIS). The CODIS database searches Deoxyribonucleic acid profiles from bedevilled offenders, unsolved criminal offence scene bear witness, and missing persons.

As a result of this search, the Dna profile developed from the testify matched that of known offender Robert Eugene Pilcher.

Pilcher was arrested and taken to the Wapello County Jail, where he was held on a 1 million dollar bond pending his initial appearance.

"A Family Responds to Arrest in Mary Jayne Jones Common cold Example" (reprinted from the ICC blog)

The post-obit text appeared on the Iowa Common cold Cases blog on November 30, 2012, posted by ICC founder Jody Ewing:

Tardily concluding week, I received an e-mail from Judith Cabanillas — 1 of two sisters of Iowa Common cold Case victim Mary Jayne Jones. Judith wrote to thank us for including her sister on our site, and said she and her family "were in daze" when they learned Robert Eugene Pilcher had finally been arrested based on Deoxyribonucleic acid prove legally nerveless from Pilcher'southward long list of crimes after 1974.

"Our family unit has waited for 38 years for this man to exist arrested," Judith wrote.

She was quick to praise the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Wapello County Sheriff'due south Office, and all those involved over the years in her sister's case.

"Wayne Sheston, a former amanuensis, worked her case afterwards he retired," she said. "Mike Berrier kept our family abreast of her case and what was occurring, and Wapello County did a wonderful job of preserving the show in her case."

Who would have thought in 1974, she wrote, that there would one day exist computers that could intermission down i's cell structure and record it exactly, and that this Dna code would exist identifiable to only i person?

"While we empathize that this is only the beginning, at least we know in that location is proof, and while he walked costless basically for 38 years, he will never be costless again," she said.

I asked Judith, who resides in Redding, Calif., if she would like to share whatever information about Mary Jayne with our readers. She responded with the following, in which she describes a beautiful young woman known not merely every bit "Jayne," only a daughter, sister, aunt, grandchild, and about of all, a friend — ane who has been missed and loved every moment of the past 38 years.

Judith wrote:

What can I say about Jayne… she was an amazing individual. E'er happy with a grin, total of energy and life. She had strong family beliefs and was e'er at that place to help another.

There was a mischievous twinkle in her brown eyes and she laughed a lot and freely.

I am not certain what Jayne wanted to do when she became an adult. I could always picture her in a field where she helped people. At 17, when she was murdered, I am not certain that she had decided what subject area she planned to go into.

Our family has grieved for thirty-eight years. That does not alter nor go away. Nosotros have missed her every mean solar day since she was so callously taken from us.

Our older sister Jacque, who lived in Ottumwa at the time, has 3 boys. I had a girl, and in memory of Jayne named my girl Marijayne.

We intend to come up to Iowa whether Robert Pilcher takes a plea or stands trial. My sis and I intend to brand victim impact statements during sentencing. Nosotros want the Judge/Jury to empathise that Jayne was not a throwaway person, without family or friends.

I have prayed that Pilcher would one day be caught, and my prayers have finally been answered.

"This is our beginning and hopefully the peaceful resting of her spirit," Judith told Iowa Cold Cases.

For other families who've lost 1 they loved due to violence, Judith says:

"I pray for you and I pray for justice in honor of your loved one(due south)."

Court maneuverings begin

A pretrial briefing held Monday, June 17, 2013, determined the trial for Pilcher, then 67, would begin Oct. 15, 2013, at the Wapello Canton Courthouse.

Courtesy photo The Ottumwa Courier

Robert "Factor" Pilcher, eye, reads over the instructions being presented to the jury earlier deliberations began Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, at the Wapello County Courthouse in Ottumwa. On Thursday, Jan. 30, Gauge Richard Meadows declared a mistrial afterwards jurors said they could not reach a verdict. Pilcher will be retried March 25, 2014.

In September 2013, a Wapello County guess pushed the trial date dorsum to Jan. xiv, 2014.

Pilcher's trial began Jan. 14, and on Jan. 30, 2014, Judge Richard Meadows declared a mistrial afterward jurors said they could non reach a verdict.

Prosecutors said they would retry Pilcher, who'd remained held at the Wapello County Jail since his November 2012 abort.

After granting the mistrial, Meadows scheduled the second trial for March 25, simply that was postponed after prosecutors asked the estimate for a change in venue for the second trial. Judge Richard Meadows denied the request on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, and scheduled the new trial to brainstorm Tuesday, Sept. nine, 2014.

Jury choice began as planned on September 9. Testimony began on Thursday, September eleven.

Pilcher admits guilt, takes plea deal

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Pilcher, 68, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Jones' slaying.

Under the plea deal, both sides recommended a 10-year judgement, which Judge Richard Meadows imposed on Pilcher. Pilcher will receive credit for the 2 years served since his arrest, and as well will quality for reductions for practiced behavior. He may be out of prison in as little as five years.

"I'm glad that information technology'due south on tape, finally, that he did what we e'er knew he did," said Judith Cabanillas, Jones' sister, who was just thirteen when her older sis was killed. "Jayne was special and she would take done beautiful things with her life."

Courtesy photo Frances Allen Titsworth, Findagrave.com

Mary Jayne Jones had come to Iowa from North Carolina nine months before her decease to visit her sister, Mrs. Pat Williams, who was expecting a baby. Mary Jayne was buried in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

About Mary Jayne

Mary Jayne Jones was built-in September 10, 1956.

Survivors included her mother and stepfather, who lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and 2 sisters, Miss Judith Cabanillas of Fort Bragg, N.C., and Mrs. Patrick (Jacque) Williams of Fairfield.

Mary Jayne was buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas.

Sources:

• Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation
• "The genetic fingerprint and what it can do for police enforcement," by Jason Mosher, Sheriff's Journal, NevadaDailyMail.com, Saturday, July 8, 2017
• "At present-abandoned country cold case unit solved crimes," past Jeff Reinitz, The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier / Des Moines Annals, Baronial 1, 2015
• "Getting away with murder: Midwest killers identified almost half the time; public interest is cardinal in resolution," by Jason Clayworth, The Des Moines Register / The Carroll Daily Times Herald, Fri, July 31, 2015
• "Iowa's Cold Instance Unit shut down in 2011," past Jeff Reinitz, Newton Daily News, Tuesday, July 28, 2015
• "In iii years, Cold Unit brought two unsolved murder cases to a close," by Jeff Reinitz, The Waterloo Courier / Carroll Daily Times Herald, July 27, 2015
• "Half of Midwest deaths unsolved," past Jason Clayworth, The Des Moines Annals / WCFCourier.com, July 27, 2015
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• "Suspect arrested in 38-yr-old murder case," Heartland Connection, November 13, 2012
• Find a Grave Memorial for Mary Jayne Jones
• "Expanse unsolved murders continue to haunt law enforcement officials, families," by Matt Milner, The Ottumwa Courier, January half-dozen, 2007
• "State of Iowa, Appellee, v. Robert Eugene PILCHER, Appellant, Supreme Court of Iowa, Leagle.com, May 19, 1976
• "Girl Found Slain, Left Friends Alphabetic character," The Danville (VA) Register, Apr thirteen, 1974
• "Letter Spurs Interest in Death," The Burlington (NC) Times-News, April 13, 1974
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• "Detect Slain Ottumwa Daughter was Shot in Head, Heart," by Alan Koonse and Sharon O'Keefe, The Des Moines Annals, April 11, 1974

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