The Nebraska State Patrol investigates the Aug. 4 homicides of four people in Laurel. The bodies were found in two burning homes in the early morning hours.
Jared McNett, Sioux City Journal file
HARTINGTON — A woman charged along with her husband in connection with an August quadruple homicide in Laurel is scheduled to make her first court appearance in January.
District Judge Bryan Meismer scheduled the arraignment for Carrie Jones for Jan. 23 in Cedar County District Court. She was arrested Friday on charges of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a felony.
She remains in custody on a $1 million bond.
Carrie Jones
Provided by Antelope County Sheriff's Office
Her husband, Jason Jones, is scheduled to be arraigned that same day on four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony and two counts of first-degree arson.
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Carrie Jones, 43, is accused of killing Gene Twiford in his house at 503 Elm St. on Aug. 4, when Twiford, 86, his wife, Janet, 85, and their daughter Dana Twiford, 55, were found shot to death in their burning home. The bodies were discovered shortly after firefighters and police who responded to an explosion and fire three blocks away at 209 Elm St. found the body of Michele Ebeling, 53, who also had been shot.
According to court documents, Carrie Jones destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered physical evidence after the incident and hid her husband in an effort to prevent his arrest. Jason Jones, 42, who lived with his wife across the street from Ebeling, was arrested at their home about 24 hours after the bodies were discovered.
Investigators believe the Twifords were killed first, then Ebeling a short time later.
Search warrant affidavits filed in her husband’s case show Carrie Jones was seen at Ebeling’s home shortly after the explosion was reported, and she told police during an interview she had been there early that morning.
Ebeling’s fiancé and two neighbors in November were granted protection orders against Carrie Jones after all three said she threatened to kill them during confrontations in August and September.
Law enforcement officials held a press conference on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022 to provide updates about a four-person homicide in the town of Laurel, Nebraska.
During a press conference to address multiple fatalities in the town of Laurel, Neb., Cedar County Sheriff Larry Koranda said the community of about 1,000 is a "tight-knit" one where everyone knows everyone.
JARED MCNETT
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