Jordan Criado

Case details

Jordan Adam Criado was a 53-year-old man from Medford, Oregon, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

His wife was Tabasha Paige-Criado, 30. Their children were Elijah (7), Isaac (6), Andrew (5), and Aurora (2).

Timeline

• July 18, 2011 — Criado killed his wife and four young children and set fire to the house after learning his wife had spent the night with another man.
• July 19, 2011 — Neighbors reported smoke coming from the home; firefighters pulled the family from the burning house; autopsies and police investigations proceeded. Criado was pulled from the burning house but survived, was held under police guard, and later was arrested upon release from hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.
• December 13, 2011 — A judge entered not guilty pleas for Criado because he was “not able to enter a plea at this time.”
• March 19, 2013 — Criado entered what's known as an Alford guilty plea to four counts of aggravated murder and one of arson.
• April 14, 2013 — Criado was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• April 15, 2013 — The judge added 90 months for arson to be served concurrently with the five life sentences; District Attorney Beth Heckert released a detailed account of the evidence against Criado.

Background

Criado worked at a local factory after moving to Southern Oregon from California. He lost his job, and the family was evicted from a house in Central Point.

Criado and Paige-Criado had children with special needs. Paige-Criado was treated for bipolar disorder and had been telling her husband for some time she wanted a divorce.

Friends and family said Paige-Criado met Criado at a community college in Bakersfield, California, after getting out of the Navy, and they married despite knowing Criado had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting three girls under the age of 14 in Sacramento County.

Criado moved his family to Oregon to get away from Paige-Criado’s family, who disapproved of him. Paige-Criado went to another local community college. Criado worked out of his home fixing cars, according to neighbors.

Paige-Criado’s father, Willie Johnson, said he was a victim of domestic violence several times over, including the murders of his two sisters, and he said Criado was not himself to blame. Johnson said: "Jordan wasn't released from prison," and "Jordan was unleashed on society." After Criado averted his gaze, Johnson said he hoped his son-in-law would do something good in prison to make up for his crimes.

The offence

Criado killed his wife and four young children on July 18, 2011, and set fire to the house after learning his wife had spent the night with another man.

Authorities said the evidence showed Criado gave the four children—Elijah (7), Isaac (6), Andrew (5), and Aurora (2)—a large dose of melatonin to make them sleep. Authorities said he then sneaked up on his wife, Tabasha Paige-Criado, and stabbed her to death.

Authorities said there were no signs of a struggle.

Autopsies described the injuries and causes of death:

• Paige-Criado had been stabbed twice in the face, twice in the neck, and 10 times in the abdomen.
• Authorities said Criado stabbed and smothered the boys and smothered the girl.
• Authorities said Criado carried the children to the master bedroom, putting two on the bed and placing the other two on a mattress on the floor next to their mother.
• Authorities said Criado left the knife he used on Paige-Criado on a bunk bed in the kids’ room.
• Authorities said Criado then went around the house starting fires and splashing cooking oil on the walls and the bodies of his wife and children to help them burn.

Authorities said evidence showed Criado cut his wrists in an attempt to kill himself, but firefighters were able to revive him after taking him from the burning house.

Police said they believed Criado stabbed his wife and children and set fire to the house, staying inside as it filled with smoke.

In autopsy reporting, the probable cause of death for all four of the young children—Elijah (7), Isaac (6), Andrew (5), and Aurora (2)—was smoke inhalation. Stab wounds to the neck were listed as an additional cause of death for two of the boys, Isaac and Andrew. A final determination on the autopsy depended on toxicology tests, which may take several weeks.

Firefighters found Paige-Criado and the children inside the burning house and pronounced them dead at a hospital.

Investigation

Firefighters had to break in because the front door was dead-bolted, with a burning couch in front of it, and a back sliding door was blocked by a wooden dowel.

A firefighter told investigators that when they found unconscious Criado, he was holding a kitchen knife covered with blood that later turned out to be his own.

Police said they planned to search the house for more evidence.

Deputy Fire Chief Gordon Sletmoe described early fire response as including prying open a door, air tanks, and smoke pushed through the burning house. Sletmoe said: "I don't recall any single sound," and later: "It's an ugly scene," adding: "Some of the kids are really small." Sletmoe also said the scene “looked like a van crash.”

Medford Police Chief Tim George said: "People did a superhuman effort to revive people," and "Unfortunately, the only survivor was the suspect. You never get over it. People who worked that case put their heart and soul into it. It scarred a community."

Police cordoned off the crime scene with yellow tape while onlookers gathered on the sidewalk.

Arrest

Criado remained unresponsive initially and was overcome by smoke. He was under police guard as the only individual police had named as a “person of interest” in the killings.

Criado was sedated in stable condition and under police watch after surviving the fire, and police said they were waiting for him to recover before they arrested him.

Criado spent nearly three weeks unconscious in a hospital after smoke inhalation and was arrested immediately upon discharge.

Trial

On December 13, 2011, Judge Lorenzo Mejia entered not guilty pleas. Defense attorney Geoff Gokey told the judge that Criado was "not able to enter a plea at this time." When asked why, Gokey replied, "I can't say."

Criado faced 24 counts of aggravated murder, and the counts were based on different theories of the crime, including multiple victims and victims under the age of 14. The felony murder counts were related to four counts of arson. The case included consideration of a not guilty by reason of insanity defense.

Sentencing

On March 19, 2013, Criado entered an Alford guilty plea to four counts of aggravated murder and one of arson, acknowledging there was enough evidence to convict him without admitting guilt. Prosecutors agreed not to pursue a death sentence and recommended life in prison without parole.

Criado made statements in court, including:

• "For my wife, Tabasha, I know I have killed her, and I am sorry for that,"
• "My son, Elijah, I did not kill him."
• "I kill my wife, because she kill my babies. My Elijah, my Isaac, my Andrew, my babies," he sobbed.
• "My babies. My babies. My babies." He added: "My babies. My babies. My babies."

Judge Lorenzo Mejia accepted the Alford pleas and told Criado that the evidence against him was overwhelming.

On April 14, 2013, Criado was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In a tearful and rambling statement, Criado maintained that he had only killed his wife after she killed the children.

Judge Lorenzo Mejia told the defendant he was delusional and said the evidence showed he had killed his entire family on July 18, 2011, and set fire to the house after learning his wife had spent the night with another man. The judge said:

• "Maybe you can't admit to yourself that you killed them, but that is clearly what happened,"
• "You dishonor the memory of how good a father you were and dishonor the memory of your children by your insistence that she killed them."

Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty after Criado entered Alford guilty pleas to five counts of aggravated murder and one of arson. That acknowledgement meant he did not admit guilt but recognized that there was enough evidence to convict him.

The judge added 90 months for arson to be served concurrently with the five life sentences.

Outcome

Criado received life in prison without parole for killing his wife and four young children and also received an arson sentence of 90 months to be served concurrently with the life sentences.

Other details

The house was at 1027 W. 10th St. in Medford, Oregon.

A neighbor, Calvin Kennedy, said he and other neighbors saw smoke coming out of the house and contacted police, and that he pounded on the door as smoke came out of the eaves and windows and around the chimney.

Police said Tabasha Paige-Criado was reported missing by her husband shortly before dawn on July 19, 2011, and that police found her at the corner of 10th Street and Oakdale Avenue at about 7:45 a.m., after which she received a ride home.

A security video showed Paige-Criado appeared at ease at a convenience store while Criado reported her missing.

Police said they found multiple knives, and that fires had been started throughout the house, which was later torn down.

Jennifer Backes said: "When I first saw it, all I could do was cry," and described watching firefighters wearing respirator masks carry one victim after another out of the smoky house.

Wally Johnson sat silently in court dressed in black but had nothing to say after pleas were entered.

Police Chief Tim George said the case marked the highest number of murder victims in a single case in Jackson County history.

Oregon National Guard infantryman Chris Bennett said Criado suggested Bennett check fuses for a Firebird breakdown and refused payment for a replacement fuse. Bennett also said he heard Criado and Paige-Criado arguing loudly at night, and said Criado told her, "Hey, you need to calm down, the kids are asleep," and that it was always her yelling, according to Bennett’s fiance, Shilo Croswell, 22.