June | 1994 | MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

When an Air Force veteran dies unexpectedly, Kenda and his team must determine if it was a tragic accident or premeditated murder. But before long, they discover that their clean-cut victim had a secret life. -Rest in Peace, Homicide Hunter (S9,E5)

Air Force Retiree Willy Jackson, 65, was found dead on the bedroom floor of his Colorado Springs home on June 24, 1994. At initial observation, there were no ligature marks, no bullet wounds, and no trauma observed at all. Willy’s wife Tony suggested he died of alcohol poisoning. Nonetheless, this was a suspicious death and detectives began their investigation. After the medical examiner arrived on scene, he turned the body over and observed a small puncture wound in Willy’s thigh. Investigators also found blood on the mattress and it was concealed with new sheets. Lt. Joe Kenda suspected either Tony or her son had something to do with this incident. After the autopsy was conducted, investigators learned Willy was stabbed with a steak knife and bled to death. Kenda got a warrant to search Willy’s home. The police sprayed luminal and discovered the stabbing occurred in the kitchen. There were blood stains all over the house.

Kenda wanted Tony to take a polygraph test. Before the polygraph was conducted, Willy’s wife Tony Jackson stopped the process and admitted she stabbed Willy. She claimed she did it in self-defense because he was drunk and annoyed that Tony was on the phone with her son’s dad. She said he began choking her and she grabbed a knife from the kitchen and poked him in the leg. Willy went to bed and she never suspected his wound would kill him. She cleaned up the house. After reviewing the case, the District Attorney concluded that Tony Jackson was acting in self-defense and declined to press murder charges. The investigators believed her too. Her crime was cleaning up blood and she was charged with that. She was sentenced to three years of supervised probation. If Willy wasn’t so drunk and passed out, he may have been able to save his own life.

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MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

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Monthly Archives: June 1994