Christopher E. Jones is now charged with murdering his 2-year-old daughter and 5- and 7-year-old sons.
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Wichita
Eagle newspaper:
SATURDAY October 9, 1999
Suspect's bond is $3.5 million
Christopher E. Jones is now charged with murdering his 2-year-old
daughter and 5- and 7-year-old sons.
By Hurst Laviana
The Wichita Eagle
A judge set bond at $3.5 million Friday for a Lindsborg man accused of
murdering his three young children and stabbing his wife.
Prosecutors charged Christopher E. Jones, 46, an unemployed forensic
toxicologist, on Friday with three counts of premeditated first-degree
murder
in the deaths of Christopher George Jones, 7; Joshua David Jones, 5; and
Sarah
Jayne Jones, 2.
They also charged him with one count of aggravated battery in the
beating and
stabbing of his wife, Catherine Jones, 34. She was released Friday from
Lindsborg Community Hospital.
Christopher Jones, who is being held in the McPherson County Jail, is
scheduled
to make a first court appearance at 3 p.m. Monday in the courtroom of
District
Judge Carl Anderson. If Jones is unable to hire a lawyer, Anderson will
appoint
one for him at that time.
Each murder count carries a maximum sentence of life without parole for
25
years. But prosecutors will have the option of seeking the death penalty
because the crime involved more than one murder victim.
McPherson County Attorney Ty Kaufman, Kansas Attorney General Carla
Stovall and
two of Stovall's assistants filed the charges against Jones. The charges
do not
say how the children died.
Lindsborg police said they were called to the Jones' home about 10:30
p.m.
Wednesday after Catherine Jones ran from her house screaming that her
husband
was after her. Christopher Jones then led police on a chase that ended
when he
was arrested on a country road outside the town of Smolan.
Funerals for the children have been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at
the
Trinity United Methodist Church in Lindsborg, with burial in the Elmwood
Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. at the Hays Funeral Home
in
Lindsborg.
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The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news
wire:
Father charged with first degree murder charges, aggravated battery
By Associated Press, 10/08/99
McPHERSON, Kan. (AP) A former Maine man accused of killing his three
children
was formally charged Friday with three counts of first-degree murder,
according
to papers filed in McPherson County District Court.
A charge of aggravated battery also was filed against Christopher Ernest
Jones.
He is accused of assaulting his wife, Catherine.
Jones, 47, is being held in McPherson County Jail on a $3.5 million
bond.
The couple's children Christopher, 7; Joshua, 5; and Sarah, 2 were found
murdered in their Lindsborg home after their bloodied mother ran
screaming to a
neighbor's house for help late Wednesday night.
The family recently moved to Kansas from Winslow, Maine, where Jones was
director of a forensic analysis laboratory.
He is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 3 p.m. Monday in
McPherson.
Formal charges were filed by Attorney General Carla J. Stovall's office.
Assistant Attorney General Al Walczak and John Bork are handling the
case.
Meanwhile, grieving family and friends are planning funeral services in
Lindsborg. Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. on Monday at Hays Funeral
Home.
Services have been set for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Trinity United
Methodist
Church. The children will be buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
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