Blood, inconsistent stories. Detective details why missing Richmond mom’s husband charged
When 48-year-old Ella Jackson went missing in October, her husband told investigators varying stories about where she might have gone. He first told police she would disappear routinely and would be back, but that explanation morphed over time with stories of a plot to flee to Russia and possible mental illness.
When police and forensic experts found evidence of a substantial amount of human blood in the trunk of 39-year-old Glenn Jackson’s RAV-4, they began to suspect there was more to the story of what happened to Ella Jackson, Richmond Police Department Detective Jason Friend testified at a court hearing Wednesday.
Glenn Jackson, a former Eastern Kentucky University English and rhetoric instructor who also worked with honors students, was charged in April with murder-domestic violence, abuse of a corpse and evidence tampering.
Days later, human bones were found in a ditch in Pulaski County by a person who was hunting mushrooms. Forensics experts were able to use dental records to positively identify the remains as Ella Jackson.
Friend testified extensively Wednesday, detailing the evidence investigators have gathered since Ella Jackson’s October disappearance. Madison County District Court Judge Earl Ray Neal found probable cause on all of the charges Wednesday during the preliminary hearing, which was held by teleconference because of COVID-19 restrictions. Video of the hours-long hearing was obtained by the Herald-Leader.
Friend testified that he believes that Ella Jackson was killed on Sunday, Oct. 20, and that her husband then drove her body down to Pulaski County and left it.
Glenn Jackson called police on Oct. 21 to say his wife had left and insinuated that it could be a case of abandonment. He stressed that he was not worried about Ella Jackson, and said that she would often leave for extended periods of time, Friend testified. Jackson said he believed she’d left in a vehicle with someone else and would be back.
The officer that responded to that call told Glenn Jackson that adults can leave willingly, and that if he hadn’t heard from his wife by the next night he should call back.
A missing persons report
The next day, Oct. 22, Ella Jackson’s adult son, Phillip Hans, called police to say he had been unable to contact her, which was unusual because they spoke daily. He made a formal missing persons report, Friend said.
Hans, Glenn Jackson’s stepson, also requested a welfare check at Glenn and Ella Jackson’s home.
When police got to the house on Westwood Drive in Richmond on Oct. 22, they found lights and a television on, Friend said. The back door of the home was also ajar.
Since the door was open and Hans had reported to police that he was concerned his mother might be in danger, police went inside the home, Friend said. There were no signs of a struggle inside and no one was home.
Investigators were able to contact Glenn Jackson with the help of EKU police, Friend said.
Glenn Jackson returned home to talk to police and again said that his wife had left numerous times before and that she had convinced he and their 6-year-old son to go to the dog park the night she disappeared. He told police he thought she’d been trying to get them out of the house and had left while they were gone.
Ella Jackson’s purse, phone and car were still at the home and the only thing Glenn Jackson said she took with her was a key to the couple’s lake house in Monticello, Friend said.
After Oct. 22, investigators were beginning to believe something suspicious had happened and brought Glenn Jackson, Ella Jackson’s ex-husband, Jason Hans, and her adult son, Phillip Hans, to the police department for interviews, Friend said.
During the interview Glenn Jackson said that Ella Jackson had been behaving strangely on the days of Oct 19 and 20. He told police that on Oct. 20 he’d heard her talking to her sister or mom in Russian. He said he heard words like hotel, passport, airport, Uber and Lyft, Friend said.
Ella Jackson is originally from Russia and has family in Ukraine. Her ex sister-in-law lives in Ukraine and spoke to her that day, but said she doesn’t remember any talk of the things Glenn Jackson mentioned, Friend said. Friend also pointed out that Ella Jackson’s ex sister-in-law doesn’t speak any English, so it would have been odd for Glenn Jackson to have heard any of the words he mentioned during the Skype call that day.
“Ella had made statements to (Phillip) recently that if anything happened to her, if anything looked like an accident or that she’d committed suicide, to not believe it,” Friend said. “He said that Ella told him that if anything like that happened, that Mr. Jackson would be responsible.”
During the October interview at the police department, Glenn Jackson denied that there had been any physical violence in his relationship with Ella Jackson. Both Jason and Phillip Hans told police that there had been violence, and that Ella Jackson was scared of her husband.
Police later learned that Ella Jackson had met with a domestic violence victims advocate and a divorce attorney before her death.
On Oct. 25, Friend canvassed the neighborhood around the dog park where Glenn Jackson said he and his son had gone at the time of Ella Jackson’s disappearance. He found a home surveillance camera in the area that confirmed Ella Jackson had walked her dog to the park that afternoon, and that Glenn Jackson had gone to the park later that evening. However, Glenn Jackson had gone to the park later than he’d told police and did not stay as long as he’d said, Friend testified.
Blood, weapons found
On Oct. 29, Friend interviewed Glenn Jackson for six hours at the police department. During that interview, 10 investigators and a cadaver dog were at his home executing a search warrant.
The investigator’s searched Glenn Jackson’s RAV-4 and found what looked like dried blood in the trunk, Friend said. Investigators used luminol, a chemical that illuminates when it comes in contact with substances like blood, to find an approximately 2-foot in diameter stain, he said.
It appeared attempts had been made to thoroughly clean away the blood, but the luminol showed that the stain ran up against a crevice in the trunk, Friend said. Investigators took apart the trunk and found that blood had pooled in the crevice, which they were able to sample for DNA testing. The results of that DNA test came back in April and confirmed that the blood was Ella Jackson’s, Friend said. Glenn Jackson was charged with murder soon after.
As of Wednesday, investigators were still waiting on forensic experts and anthropologists to finish their analysis on Ella Jackson’s remains. It was not yet clear how Ella Jackson died, or the exact time of her death. But because of the amount of blood found in the RAV-4, Friend testified he believed her cause of death had to have been related to blood loss.
A knife, which also reacted to luminol, was located in the trunk of the vehicle where the blood was found, Friend testified. Forensics experts are still analyzing the knife to learn more.
Two guns were also found during the search, Friend said. Police found them in a small lock box type safe in the attic above the couple’s garage, and they noted that dust and insulation had been disturbed in such a way that it appeared the safe had recently been pushed to the back of the attic, Friend testified. When the investigators opened the safe, they noted a “fresh smell of gunpowder,” Friend said.
There were three reports of gunfire in the area of Glenn Jackson’s house on the night Ella Jackson is thought to have disappeared, Friend said.
Skeletal remains in Pulaski County
When Ella Jackson’s remains were found on April 28 in Pulaski County, investigators noted that they were about 9.2 miles away from Glenn Jackson’s brother’s house, Friend said. Police got his brother’s phone records and found that he’d texted his son on Oct. 20 saying Glenn Jackson would likely be visiting them that night, he said.
Police had previously spoken with Glenn Jackson’s brother, but they have not been able to contact him since Ella Jackson’s remains were found, Friend testified. Ella Jackson’s family had previously said they were suspicious of Glenn Jackson’s brother, he testified.
After the bones in Pulaski County were confirmed to be Ella Jackson’s, investigators with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Richmond Police Department went back to the place they were found to look for more evidence. Pulaski County investigators also turned over evidence found with the bones, including clothing.
Friend also testified that there were several reported instances of Glenn Jackson behaving suspiciously after Ella Jackson disappeared.
In the months after Ella Jackson’s disappearance, Glenn Jackson made three trips to Goodwill to donate women’s clothing and personal items, Friend testified.
‘Suspicious’ behavior
After Glenn Jackson’s arrest, employees at the Madison County jail found a note in his cell on which he’d written down three possible reasons for Ella Jackson’s blood to have been in his trunk, Friend said. The reasons were not discussed in the hearing.
As of Wednesday, about 233 items of evidence had been collected in the case, Friend said.
Glenn Jackson’s attorney, Justin Hoskins, argued at the hearing that his client was the first to call police after Ella Jackson’s disappearance, and that he’d never refused a search or interview from police. He also pointed out that there’s no evidence that the couple’s 6-year-old son had been in anyone else’s care on the night of the disappearance.
Hoskins asked that the charge of abuse of a corpse be dismissed. The charge had been based on a conversation Glenn Jackson had with another inmate the day after his arrest, in which he’d said he’d searched online how to dispose of “the body” in acid, according to police and court records. The conversation was captured on jail surveillance.
The charge had been filed before Ella Jackson’s body was found, and once her body had been found, none of the evidence indicated acid had been used, Friend testified.
Friend and assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jennifer Smith argued the abuse of a corpse charge should stand based on the allegation that Ella Jackson’s body was driven to Pulaski County and left in a ditch. Neal agreed.
Hoskins, a public defender, will no longer represent Glenn Jackson because Neal found that Glenn Jackson had more financial resources than had initially been reported. Because of those resources, Neal said Glenn Jackson should hire his own attorney.
Since Neal found probable cause on all of the charges, Glenn Jackson’s case will move forward to a grand jury, which will hear evidence and decide whether to send the case to circuit court to be prepared for trial.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 12:15 PM.
