Lisa Donlon

Case record: Lisa Donlon

Background

Lisa Donlon was a mother of three boys. Her sons were 11, 13, and 15. She was held and tried in the October 2010 death of her husband.

The Donlons married in South Carolina in 1995. Court papers showed trouble in the marriage when they were living in Eagle River in 2006. In 2006, she obtained a restraining order against her husband and doctors documented her injuries. In a petition for the restraining order, Lisa Donlon wrote that her husband became enraged when she announced she wanted a divorce. She wrote:

'He packed his things, told the kids `bye,'' she wrote. 'Twenty minutes later he came back with his two loaded guns. He was trying to force me to call the police because he wanted to be shot by police officers so it wouldn't look like a suicide.'

She wrote that her husband had pointed a gun to her chest before and had thrown her out of the house with no clothes on, an event she said was witnessed by one of their sons. She also stated that her husband had choked her unconscious. She wrote that she did not call police because she was scared:

'I have a feeling that he would use his guns easily, and I don't want to create any situation that would trigger that,' she wrote.

Two days after she obtained the restraining order, Jason Donlon filed for divorce, seeking custody of the children. The couple soon reconciled. They were living in a small building behind the home of his mother and stepfather.

During the period she was in jail, defense attorney Zachary Renfro said that Lisa Donlon had weekly visits from her three sons. Renfro said the next step was to work on a plan to reunite her with her children.

Lisa Donlon testified that her relationship with Jason Donlon had been abusive for years, starting in South Carolina where he worked as a police officer. She testified that he hit her, slapped her, and sometimes choked her. She testified that three times he choked her until she passed out.

After moving to Alaska, Jason Donlon deployed with the military to Iraq. Lisa Donlon said that when he came back, things got worse. She testified that she tried to leave him in 2006, but he found her at a women’s shelter in Anchorage, which she said he knew the location of despite it being supposed to be secret.

Richard Sheetz testified that he had known Jason Donlon since 1989 when they were both stationed at Camp LeJeune, N.C. Sheetz testified that as a young Marine, Jason Donlon “would actively seek out conflict.” Sheetz testified that in 2007 Jason Donlon stayed with Sheetz and his wife at their home in Colorado. Sheetz testified that during a kitchen-table conversation about his friend’s marriage, Jason Donlon told him:

“He told me, ‘I smacked her around a little bit.'”

Sheetz testified that he tried to help by lining up a job and telling Jason Donlon to move down there to cool off. Sheetz testified that Jason Donlon told him he “wouldn’t do that.”

Sheetz’s wife, Jennifer Sheetz, testified that she offered to fly Lisa Donlon and her three boys to Colorado. Jennifer Sheetz testified that at one point she and Lisa Donlon implemented a code phrase, “bunny ears,” to indicate when Lisa Donlon felt unable to talk freely on the phone because someone else was listening. Jennifer Sheetz testified:

“I didn’t witness any physical violence take place, but I did hear some things over the phone,” Jennifer Sheetz testified.

Jennifer Sheetz testified that sometime in 2006 she started to get very concerned after Lisa Donlon told her that her husband had cut her hair, raped her, and threw her outside without any clothes on. Jennifer Sheetz testified:

“I felt that he just really didn’t see her as a person anymore, the way he was treating her,” she said.

Jennifer Sheetz also testified:

“Jason was a very generous person. He was a lot of fun. There were a lot of great things about him. But he had a horrible temper.”

The offence

On Oct. 7, 2010, Lisa Donlon shot her husband, Jason Donlon, six times while he slept. Prosecutors said she shot him once in the head and five times in the back with a .45-caliber handgun.

She shot him in their Butte-area cabin. She then called 911 to report the shooting.

During closing arguments, District Attorney Roman Kalytiak argued that Lisa Donlon chose to shoot her husband instead of pursuing alternatives. Kalytiak told the jury:

“Trials don’t have to be this long,” Kalytiak told the jury. “A trial can be in a matter of seconds because the evidence has shown here that a trial was conducted on Oct. 7, 2010.”

Kalytiak said in his argument that Lisa Donlon weighed the evidence, found her husband guilty and imposed the death penalty “in ‘a matter of minutes, if not seconds.’” Kalytiak’s argument included that she could have driven to the police station, called for help while the children were away, or gotten a divorce or gone to live with friends out of state.

Kalytiak argued that Lisa Donlon shot five times, including what he called a “coup de grace” shot behind the ear. He said:

“I don’t want this person to ever recover from anything. I want this person gone. Period. Exclamation point,” Kalytiak said of the shooting.

The defense argued that Lisa Donlon acted in self-defense and that Jason Donlon tortured, kidnapped, and raped her during a three-day period. In closing arguments, defense attorney Zachary Renfro said:

‘Anyone, I think, would have done what Lisa Donlon did to protect herself and to protect her children under those circumstances,’ said defense attorney Zachary Renfro according to KTUU during closing arguments.

Renfro argued:

‘Lisa Donlon was kept in a 12 by 20 cabin against her will, unable to leave by the threat of death to her, death to her children.’

Renfro argued the case was not about money and not about an affair, and he argued it was about imminent threat.

Lisa Donlon testified that on the night before the shooting, Jason Donlon stayed up late and threatened her. Renfro testified in argument about what he said he believed Jason Donlon was saying:

“All night long he’s saying, ‘tomorrow’s the day. You’re going to pay. You have to pay for what you’ve done,’” Renfro said.

Renfro argued that Lisa Donlon turned off alarm clocks in the cabin, but Jason Donlon woke up anyway, got their oldest off to middle school, and Lisa Donlon believed then that he was going to kill her as he had said.

Investigation

After initially deciding not to charge Lisa Donlon, a Palmer grand jury received new information and later indicted her on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said the initial decision was based in part on evidence that Lisa Donlon was a victim of domestic violence.

Kalytiak said:

“Her claim was, and is, that the murder was justified,” Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said Monday.

Kalytiak explained the investigative grand jury process:

Usually police bring initial charges and prosecutors seek an indictment within a specified number of days.
“In this case, there was an ongoing investigation and a decision was made not to charge her right away but to present it to the grand jury in the format of an investigative grand jury case,” Kalytiak said.
The same grand jury that heard the case in October revisited it in December when the district attorney's office presented additional information it had received, he said. He said he could not disclose what that information was because the inner workings of a grand jury are secret.

Before the indictment, another Palmer grand jury decided not to charge Lisa Donlon after “significant evidence” of being abused by her husband. Rachel Gernat, the case’s lead assistant district attorney in Palmer, said there was evidence of serious physical abuse and that Lisa Donlon had sought assistance before. Gernat said:

“There was evidence of serious physical abuse and that she had sought assistance before,” Gernat said, being cautious about what she revealed about the case because grand jury proceedings are usually kept secret.
“We were able to confirm all of her story. The shooting doesn't appear to have been premeditated. It was definitely a product of the situation.”

Kalytiak argued that it was never an issue of whether she shot him because she admitted to it when she called 911. Kalytiak said:

“It was never an issue of whether she shot him because she admitted to it when she called 911,” Kalytiak said Monday.
“Therefore, the grand jury must have found the shooting to be justified. Basically, her position was that she didn't have any other choice in the matter than to do what she did.”

Kalytiak also said he was sure the community would judge her harshly for what she did and that people might feel she had plenty of opportunities to help herself. He said:

“People will probably feel she had plenty of opportunities to help herself and will feel that since her husband was laying on his stomach at the time of the shooting, it wasn't a true self-defense case,” Kalytiak said.

He added that people who know domestic violence point to psychological aspects leading victims to feel desperate:

“On the other hand, people who know about domestic violence point out that there are certain psychological aspects that lead victims to get to the point where they feel pretty desperate and that their choices are very limited.”

The investigation included medical evidence: in the trial, prosecutors argued that while medical records showed evidence of scrapes and bruises there was nothing to indicate torture.

Arrest / Pre-trial

After the grand jury indictment, Lisa Donlon was charged. She was held on $100,000 bail at the Mat-Su pretrial facility. A bail hearing was set for Wednesday.

Trial

Lisa Donlon stood trial in Superior Court Judge Kari Kristiansen’s courtroom in Palmer. Defense attorney Zachary Renfro and District Attorney Roman Kalytiak presented closing arguments.

Before the trial ended, the defense sought to tell the jury it could consider self-defense as a possible justification for a not-guilty verdict. Superior Court Judge Kari Kristiansen ruled that defense attorneys could tell the jury it can consider self-defense as a possible justification for a not-guilty verdict. District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said he intended to appeal that ruling.

Testimony regarding the abuse

Richard Sheetz testified that he received a frantic voice message from Jason Donlon in October 2010. Sheetz told jurors:

“He said, ‘call me because I really need you,’ and I knew. I knew that something bad had happened,” Richard Sheetz told jurors Friday.

Sheetz said he tried to call back but couldn’t. Sheetz told jurors he assumed something bad had happened to Lisa Donlon, but actually Jason Donlon had died at Lisa Donlon’s hands just a couple days after that call.

Jennifer Sheetz testified about hearing things over the phone and the code phrase “bunny ears.” She testified about the temperaments and that she and Lisa Donlon had code phrase usage for when someone else listened.

Lisa Donlon testified during the trial, including describing an incident in the woods off the Jim Creek trails. She testified that while her kids waited in the car, Jason Donlon walked her into the woods and that it had been a struggle. She testified she tried to lock him out of the family SUV and then refused to stand up after he pulled her out and she fell on the ground. She testified Jason Donlon told her:

“He said, ‘if you don’t walk right now I’m going to do it right here,’” Lisa Donlon said.

She testified she believed Jason Donlon intended to kill her right there next to the SUV with their boys waiting inside, and that he told her:

“I’ll have to take them out, too, because they can’t go through their lives being witnesses.”

She testified she gave up and went with him. She testified that two days after the woods incident, she shot him in the back while he lay in their bed.

Lisa Donlon testified about the argument leading to the woods incident, after Jason Donlon found text messages between her and a co-worker. She testified she told her husband she and the co-worker had been flirting for three weeks and that they had kissed only once. She testified that it was a lie and that it had been going on five weeks and they kissed five times. She testified that on the trail in the Butte, Jason Donlon choked her until her knees were weak and her vision blurry, and she testified he gave her three options: shoot herself, overdose on pain medications she had been taking that were in his pocket, or let him strangle her. She testified she chose the pills. She testified:

“He gave them to me and I was taking some and he snatched them back and said, ‘you're not getting off that easy,’” Donlon testified in court Thursday.

Lisa Donlon testified that after going back to their house, Jason Donlon tried to remain controlled when the kids were around. She testified that when the children went to school the next day he bound her hands, connected them to a pulley system and tied that to a hook in the roof. She testified he sprayed her with rubbing alcohol and tried to light her on fire. She testified:

“I kept blowing the lighter out and that made him more mad,” she said.

She testified that he hit her with a belt, punched her and slapped her. She testified he told her that if she screamed she might get someone killed because he would have to take out potential witnesses. She testified that at the end he had sex with her and said:

“forced himself on me,” Donlon testified — and went to sleep like nothing had happened.

Lisa Donlon testified she said their relationship had been abusive for years, including in South Carolina. She testified she tried to leave in 2006, but he found her at a women’s shelter in Anchorage, and she testified about the disclosure of the location being supposed to be a secret. She testified:

“I had left before and he had found me,” she said.
“I had went to a shelter where I was supposed to be protected and it was supposed to be a secret.”

Lisa Donlon testified that because she believed the torture would resume the next day, she shot him after one of their sons had gone to school and before the other two left.

During cross-examination by District Attorney Roman Kalytiak, Lisa Donlon said that she was re-evaluating her marriage during periods when things happened. Kalytiak asked her:

“Every time one of these things happened you should have been or you were re-evaluating your marriage?”

Lisa Donlon replied:

“No, not every time,” Lisa Donlon said, explaining there were times that her husband promised he'd do better, that things would change.

Kalytiak asked about a divorce filing. Lisa Donlon said he filed as a ruse to get her to come back by scaring her about custody. She testified that he told her she had no chance of winning custody because she had no job, no lawyer, and no place to live:

“He told me I had no chance of winning because I had no job, I had no lawyer and I had no place to live,” Lisa Donlon said.

Kalytiak asked about her choices and said:

“You chose domestic violence and rape and name calling over divorce and some financial struggling?”

Lisa Donlon responded:

“He said that things would get better and we would get counseling,” Lisa Donlon replied.

Kalytiak asked whether the couple enjoyed turbulence. Lisa Donlon said they were not. Kalytiak also asked about a possible explanation for the torture she described in the days leading up to her shooting. She testified that her hands had been bound and she had been suspended from the ceiling as he whipped her, poked her with needles, and slapped her. Kalytiak asked her if what she described sounded like a bondage-type situation:

“You would agree that what you described to the jury sounds like a bondage-type situation,” Kalytiak asked her.

Lisa Donlon replied:

“No. That’s sick,” Lisa Donlon replied.

Other trial-related statements

The trial included arguments about whether the killing was non-confrontational, and medical evidence. Prosecutors argued that the killing was non-confrontational and that medical records showed scrapes and bruises but nothing to indicate torture. The defense argued she was a victim of domestic violence and that the shooting was justified.

Sentencing

No sentencing outcome was recorded because Lisa Donlon was acquitted by the jury.

Appeals

District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said he intended to appeal the ruling allowing self-defense to be considered by the jury. No appellate outcome was provided.

Outcome

A Palmer jury acquitted Lisa Donlon of charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide after she shot Jason Donlon five times while he slept. The jury found her not guilty on all counts.

After the verdict, Lisa Donlon spoke. She said she left it in God’s hands, stating:

“I left it in God’s hands,” Donlon said Wednesday afternoon in an interview with Channel 2.

Donlon said she did not remember what she was thinking before she pulled the trigger. She said Jason had just raped her and threatened to kill the couple’s three children. She said:

“(He said) he would start taking my children out as they came home from school,” Donlon said, “and that he would finish off with me.”

She said she would spend Wednesday evening with her three boys, who were now 11, 13 and 15, eating pizza and watching movies. She said:

"We’re just going to hang out, watch some TV, eat some pizza and hug -- be a family,” Donlon said.

She said the first thing she did after being released was go out to dinner and order some lasagna, the meal she said she had missed most since she was arrested.

Other details

Lisa Donlon’s profile statements included that she grew up in Savannah, Ga., and later attended high school and technical college in South Carolina, according to her profile on a social networking website. She had lived in Alaska for at least nine years, according to public records.

A grand jury initially declined to indict her but later reconsidered after prosecutors presented new evidence. Prosecutors said that while Lisa Donlon did not have any evidence indicating torture, evidence included scrapes and bruises.

At the time of the November 2, 2010 decision not to charge her, Lisa Donlon was described as 37 years old and Jason Donlon as 40. In December 2010 coverage, Lisa Donlon was described as 38 and Jason Donlon as 40. In trial coverage around 2013, her sons were described as 11, 13 and 15.