Jeffrey Gerard Jones

Case record: Jeffrey Gerard Jones

Jeffrey Gerard Jones was a Sacramento native, born in 1960. Jones attended college in Arizona and was sent home at age 22 after he began to exhibit abnormal behavior. Psychiatrists diagnosed him as a chronic paranoid schizophrenic and prescribed anti-psychotic medication, but nothing seemed to help his condition.

Jones was sentenced to death in 1987.

Background

Jones was sent home from college in Arizona at age 22 after he began to exhibit abnormal behavior.

The offence

In early 1984, John Jones awoke one night to find his son beside the bed with a knife in hand.

By May, Jeffrey was charged with robbing a disabled Davis resident.

Investigation

After Jones’s arrest and indictment, it was revealed that he had threatened “to do something bad” in a bid for commitment and psychiatric care.

Arrest

Jones was arrested and indicted following the offences described in January 1985.

Trial

Jones filed a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

In November, a probation report filed with the Yolo County court noted that therapy and medication had “stabilized” Jones, so that “the probability of threat to others is not significant at this time.”

Sentencing

In 1987, Jones was sentenced to death.

Timeline

• May 1984 — Jeffrey was charged with robbing a disabled Davis resident.
• January 21, 1985 — Jones waylaid Harry Dong at Sutter’s Fort near Sacramento and used a claw hammer to slaughter him in a public restroom.
• January 21, 1985 — Hours later, Jones struck at the University of California in Davis, battering John Rowland and leaving him for dead in a men’s room at the campus medical center.
• January 22, 1985 — Jones staked out another restroom in the same building and hammering Dr. Michael Corbett to death.
• February 18, 1985 — Fred Morris was killed in identical fashion at the UC Davis physics-geology building.
• 1987 — Jones was condemned and sentenced to death.

Other details

Jones used a claw hammer and targeted victims in public restrooms at multiple locations associated with Sacramento and the University of California in Davis. The motive was described as “PC-nonspecific,” and the method of operation was described as bludgeoned male victims with a hammer in public restrooms.