Jones guilty in 3rd trial for 1988 killing

For the third time since 1989, a Snohomish County jury has convicted Jerry Bartlett Jones of savagely stabbing his wife to death.

Jurors deliberated less than 4 1/2 hours March 31 before convicting the former pharmaceutical salesman of first-degree murder in the death of Lee Jones, 41, in December 1988 in their Mays Pond home.

Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer sentenced Jones, 58, to 25 years in prison for the murder on Tuesday, April 5. But with time served and credit for good behavior, he could be released within three years.

Five jurors attended the sentencing, saying they have deep emotional and time investments in the case.

Twice before, appellate courts threw out convictions and sent the case back to Snohomish County for more evidence about a neighborhood teenager who Jones accused of being the killer.

None of that evidence reached the jury in 1989, and only some of it was heard when Jones was convicted in 2001.

This time, jurors heard witness after witness tell them about the bad character of the then 15-year-old classmate of one of Jones’ daughters.

But jurors didn’t buy the story of an intruder in the Jones home on Dec. 3, 1988. Instead, they chose deputy prosecutor Ron Doersch’s version of events.

Lee Jones suffered more than 60 stab wounds, probably caused by more than 40 thrusts of a sharp knife. Jones said he ran into an intruder seconds after hearing his wife scream for help, but didn’t hear her struggle before that.

Witnesses testified that she suffered numerous defensive wounds on her arms and legs while she fought for her life in the bathroom of their home near Mill Creek.

“As a whole, it was pretty compelling,” said a 33-year-old juror from Everett. “The state put on a pretty good case.”

Most of the jurors escaped out a back door to avoid talking with reporters. One Everett juror, who declined to give his name, said the panel quickly reached a conclusion and then continued to talk about the evidence.

The juror said the intruder story didn’t hold up.

“It was not believable,” he said.

Doersch said he intended to ask for the same penalty Jones received in 2001 – 25 years.

“I’m going to ask for him to finish out the sentence, the same as he got the last time,” Doersch said. “Enough is enough.”

Jones has been in prison most of the time since 1988, and with time off for good behavior he has less than three years to serve. He was released on $25,000 bail in July.

Allendoerfer ordered Jones held without bail pending sentencing.

Jurors looked straight ahead as they filed out of the room where they had deliberated.

Jones had a slight grin and held hands with his eldest daughter, Kim Jones, as the verdict form was passed to the judge for reading.

When told he’d been again found guilty, Jones shook his head and sat down. As jurors were polled, he sat at the defense table, rocking slightly back and forth. His daughters broke into sobs.

“It’s not right,” his youngest daughter, Beth Blood, said at one point.

Jones asked the judge to return him to prison “on an expedited basis, tonight if possible. I have health and dietary issues that can’t be addressed in Snohomish County.”

Later, he told the judge a Tuesday sentencing would be fine with him.

In the previous two trials, attorneys represented him. This time, Jones served as his own attorney. He had said only he could present the case the way he wanted it to go to the jury. He asked most of the questions — except when he took the witness stand in his own defense. His adviser, public defender Susan Gaer, quizzed him then.

Gaer said she was disappointed by the verdict.

“I just feel sick,” she said. “It’s just so sad. If I had been on the jury, I couldn’t have found him guilty.”

This is the third time Doersch and sheriff’s detective Joe Ward have been through the case and presented it to a jury. Doersch said he was surprised by the quick verdict, but he said it was the right one.

“It was a just verdict this time, and it was a just verdict the first two times,” Doersch said.

Jim Haley is a reporter with The Herald in Everett. Herald reporter Scott North contributed to this story.