Cindy Lou Beck

Case record: Cindy Lou Beck

Background

Cindy Lou Beck was 47 at the time of additional charges in Marion County. She was 46 at the time of the August 2010 murders of Scott and Marilyn Jondle.

David Scott Jondle was 61 and Marilyn Jondle was 58. Their son Andrew Jondle was 21 at the time of Marion County charges, and 20 in Polk County sentencing coverage.

Beck and Andrew Jondle began dating about a month before the slayings. Their relationship involved a May-December age difference: Beck was 26 years older than Andrew Jondle. The victims had strongly disapproved of the relationship.

The Jondles owned Abundant Life Farm, a 210-acre plot where they raised poultry, pigs, cattle and sheep since 2000. The Jondles moved to the area from California in 2000 to farm.

The district attorney stated that Beck pretended to channel spirits to convince the Jondles’ son, Andrew Jondle, 21, to kill his parents on Aug. 30, 2010. The district attorney contended that Beck was using a fake form of psychic channeling, “pretending to receive messages from animal or tree spirits,” to manipulate Andrew Jondle into committing the murders.

Family members supported a settlement instead of a trial. Andrew Jondle agreed to cooperate with the state and testify against Beck.

Beck had felony convictions for theft in 1992 and criminal mistreatment in 2008, according to court records.

The offence

Beck was sentenced in Polk County for her role in the August 2010 murders of Scott and Marilyn Jondle of Dallas. She was later indicted in Marion County.

A Marion County grand jury indicted Beck on two charges each of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy, all class A felonies. The indictment was dated Sept. 22 and stated the charges involved a boy younger than 16.

Court records stated the incidents continued for years, beginning in April 2007.

In Polk County proceedings, Beck and Andrew Jondle hatched a plan shortly after they began dating. The plan involved the elder Jondles’ deaths, and it was intended to look like part of a home invasion robbery. The district attorney described the intent as motive for money: to avoid being evicted from the Salem apartment they shared and to prove to the state that Beck could provide a proper home for her children, who had been taken into protective custody by the state months before the killings.

In coverage of the underlying killings, authorities found that Andrew Jondle waited for his dad in the family garage and beat him with a steel pipe and stabbed him. When his mother saw what happened he killed her with the same pipe. Two weapons were found at the scene: a scythe and a metal pipe.

An autopsy showed that Scott Jondle died of stab wounds to the head and torso. Marilyn Jondle was killed by blunt-force trauma to the head and upper body.

After the slayings, Andrew Jondle and Beck hatched a plan to rob the victims of their credit cards, cash and jewelry. The coverage stated that Andrew was hoping to scrounge up about $500 to pay back rent on the apartment he shared with Cindy, and authorities also believed Andrew was trying to scrape money together to help Cindy Lou get her kids out of foster care.

Investigation and arrest

Beck was taken into custody at Polk County Jail in September 2010 in connection with the Jondle murder plot.

A report stated that Andrew Jondle and Cindy Lou Beck were being held in the Polk County Jail in connection with the deaths of David S. Jondle and Marilyn R. Jondle, and that they were arrested Tuesday at their Salem apartment.

Neighbors said the couple started living together a few months before the deaths. Neighbors also said they picked fights with neighbors and threatened local children.

Neighbors said police were called multiple times in the past month. Neighbor David Powell said Beck and Andrew Jondle showed up at his house asking for cigarettes about 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. Tuesday. Powell said: “She had her hood up, and he was shaking uncontrollably.”

Polk County Sheriff Bob Wolfe said robbery was the likely motive. Wolfe said the younger Jondle stole credit cards and jewelry, then was confronted by his father. Wolfe said: “There was a confrontation with him and his father and then he ended up finding the mother and she was killed.” Wolfe said the elder Jondle’s body was found in the garage near the open garage door, and the wife’s body was found in the kitchen.

Wolfe stated that Andrew returned to his Salem apartment, where Beck allegedly helped dispose of his bloody clothing.

Wolfe said the weapon used in the crime was found at the scene and it was not a firearm.

Neighbors and acquaintances were described as depicting the Jondles as devout Christians and hard-working. Nate Rafn said: “I just couldn’t imagine Andrew doing something like this,” and that in the limited times he saw Andrew he was not violent and “he wasn’t violent at all - he didn’t seem to be angry or troubled in any way. He just seemed to be a normal kid.” A neighbor statement described David and Marilyn Jondle as “They were very passionate about what they were doing,” and “They were living out their dream. They were doing what they loved.”

Trial and pleas

Beck pleaded no contest to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

Court coverage stated that Beck entered no-contest pleas Aug. 31 to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Another report stated that Beck pleaded no contest to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and would receive a 20-year sentence.

The no-contest plea was described as meaning she admitted the state could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she did conspire with Jondle to murder each of his parents in a plan put in place shortly after they began their relationship in July of 2010.

Sentencing

Beck received a 20-year term in Polk County.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Eric Bergstrom facilitated plea agreement conferences with both defendants. Bergstrom handed down the sentences in separate hearings at the Polk County Courthouse.

Polk County District Attorney Stan Butterfield said family members supported a settlement instead of a trial.

Beck was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Sept. 19, 2011, on two counts of conspiring to commit murder.

Beck had been sent to Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville following her Sept. 19 sentencing.

Appeals

No appeal information was present.

Outcome

A Marion County grand jury indicted Beck on additional charges involving first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. The indictment dated Sept. 22 stated the charges involved a boy younger than 16, with incidents beginning in April 2007 and continuing for years.

Other details

Andrew Jondle and Beck were described as planning to inherit the farm after the elder Jondles’ death. The district attorney said the hope was to inherit the farm and that the motive was money, including avoiding eviction and proving Beck could provide a proper home for her children.

The coverage described Andrew Jondle as having a scooter. It described his calls and waiting, and it described Beck as telling Andrew that he could come back home or wait it out and kill the parents, and that the parents “had to be killed at some point in time."

Police coverage stated: “I just couldn’t imagine Andrew doing something like this,” said Nate Rafn, a family friend.

The district attorney contended that Beck was “pretending to receive messages from animal or tree spirits.”