‘What does he have to lose?’ Accused’s lower bond worries KY man with slain mom’s son
A former Eastern Kentucky University instructor accused of murder in his wife’s death was recently given reduced bond, and the woman’s ex-husband is afraid of what might happen if he’s released.
Glenn Jackson, 40, is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and three counts of evidence tampering. His bond was initially set at $250,000. His attorney, Thomas Lyons, wrote in a motion earlier this month that Jackson could pay no more than $125,000 cash, and that jail restrictions were making it difficult, if not impossible, to prepare for his eventual criminal trial.
Glenn Jackson’s wife, Ella Diebolt Jackson, went missing last October. Before her disappearance, she’d sent messages to her adult son and ex-husband, saying she was afraid of Glenn Jackson. She’d also been meeting with a divorce attorney, according to a detective in the case.
Ella Jackson’s remains were found in Pulaski County in April.
Judge James D. Ishmael Jr., who is temporarily filling a vacant judge’s seat in Madison County, lowered the bond to $150,000 full cash, according to court records. As of Tuesday, Jackson was still being held in the Madison County jail, according to jail records.
Ella Jackson’s ex-husband, Jason Hans, has been calling for justice in her case since she went missing last October. Hans is now caring for Glenn and Ella Jackson’s 6-year-old child, and he believes Glenn Jackson is unhappy about the custody change.
“He knows that I have the child; he hates that I have the child,” Hans said. “He knows where I live, and he’s about to be tried for a potential death penalty case. What does he have to lose?”
If Jackson were to be released, he’d be on home incarceration, ankle monitored and prohibited from contacting his son, Hans said. But Hans is concerned a “piece of paper” and an ankle monitor won’t be enough to keep Jackson at home.
Hans has been told it will likely be 2022 before Glenn Jackson’s case goes to trial.
“We are extremely anxious about the potential for him to do something, about whether we need to do something to protect ourselves, like a change of residence,” Hans said. “This is a major disruption, certainly emotionally, but also in how we conduct our daily lives the next few years.”
Hans is concerned releasing Jackson is considered safe because the killing was a domestic violence case, and the primary target, Ella Jackson, is dead.
If Jackson was accused of murdering someone on the street in ”random community violence, it’s difficult to imagine he’d be let out like this,” Hans said.
Hans also said he believes that Glenn Jackson has more financial resources than he has disclosed and probably could have paid the original $250,000 but didn’t want to because he is frugal.
At Glenn Jackson’s preliminary hearing in court, Judge Earl Ray Neal ordered that he hire his own attorney. Until then, Jackson had been using a public defender, but Neal said in court that Jackson had more financial resources than initially reported and should have to pay an attorney.
A Richmond Police Department detective testified at that same hearing that it was believed Ella Jackson was killed on Oct. 20, 2019, before her body was driven to Pulaski County and left in a ditch. People hunting for mushrooms found her skeletal remains in April, days after Glenn Jackson’s arrest. She was identified using dental records.
Her cause of death has still not been released.
The day after she was believed to have been killed, Glenn Jackson called police to say that she was gone, Richmond Police detective Jason Friend testified. Glenn Jackson spoke as if his wife’s disappearance was a case of abandonment and stressed that he was not worried because she did things like that all the time.
But Ella Jackson’s adult son was worried when he couldn’t reach his mother and called police on Oct. 22 to file a formal missing person report.
Both Hans and Ella Jackson’s adult son told police that she had said she was scared of Glenn Jackson before she went missing.
In the motion for bond reduction, Glenn Jackson’s attorney, Lyons, wrote that his client “vigorously” denies the allegations against him. Additionally, Lyons cited Glenn Jackson’s concern for his child, ties to his community and lack of previous criminal history as reasons he could be trusted if released.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 8:25 AM.
