JEREMY BRIAN JONES - ALSO KNOWN AS OKLAHOMA

It would be 13 years after the torturous murders and mysterious disappearances of over 20 or more victims, containing both men and women, that the police and FBI would finally catch their break and capture their killer. But what they would find out in confessions would surely shock their case.

It all started in a small eastern Oklahoma town known as Miami. Jeremy Brian Jones lived here with his mother and step-father. Jeremy attended school here and made what little friends he had here too. Talking with several people about Jeremy there was only one conclusion I came to, and that was that he was a man who couldn’t be trusted. He would try and befriend you if he knew he could get in your house and steal something. He was a meth addict and his world revolved around drugs and alcohol. He was also known as a mama’s boy and would later reveal to police that he would confess but just didn’t want his mother to know. Jeremy although not so popular with the men around town had a way with the ladies and in one interview years later would quote, “I can talk the panties off a nun”. And in his case he probably could.

In 1992 Jeremy had moved to Baxter Springs, Kansas with his girlfriend. He moved right next door to a young couple who were just fixing to get married. The couple was Justin and Jennifer Judd. Jeremy had actually went to school with Justin. After a little while living there Justin and Jennifer had called the cops on Jeremy several times for fighting with his girlfriend and being loud. Although the cops would come, the fighting never actually stopped. 10 days after Justin and Jennifer had gotten married Justin was waiting for Jennifer at his work to bring him lunch, when she didn't arrive Justin drove over to the house. Upon walking in Justin saw his packed lunch sitting on the counter with her car keys. Then Justin noticed his wife lying on the kitchen floor bleeding everywhere. She had been stabbed numerous times. No one could explain her death or find any motive and although Jeremy wasn’t really named a suspect, he was nowhere to be found.

Even before any of this happened Jeremy already had an extensive police record with drugs and alcohol, domestic violence and even indecent exposure. He was always on the move because of his outstanding warrants in Ottawa County. One day he put an end to this when he befriended a woman whose son was already in prison. Jeremy complained to her about how the cops were always out to get him. The woman felt sympathetic for him and knowing that her son would not be getting out of prison she did the unthinkable. She gave Jeremy her son’s birth certificate, social security card and his new identity. Jeremy was satisfied with this and soon became the man we knew as John Paul Chapman.

This happened not to long after hurricane Ivan had hit down south and so Jeremy knowing construction knew he could go and make some money. And so he began his new life. Along the way though several prostitutes had been found brutally murdered and some were just never found. The police didn’t know who they were looking for. They were following murders that just kept growing cold. Jones had after a few years worked in Alabama and had even traveled back home a few times to visit his mother. During one of these visits a tragic accident had occurred in the nearby town of Welch, Oklahoma. The trailer house of Danny and Kathy Freeman was found burning. After the firemen had put the flames out the police noticed that not only were the couple burned but they had also both been shot in the head. The police also discovered that the Freeman’s 16 year daughter Ashley and her friend Laurie were both gone. Laurie’s mother had told police her daughter was staying the night with the Freeman’s for her birthday. The girls have never been seen to this day. That same night Jones got arrested for drinking and driving and sat in a jail cell. It wouldn’t be until years later that Jones himself confessed to shooting the Freeman couple and setting a pile of clothes on fire beside the bed. He then ran outside to his pick-up and started to drive away when the two teenage girls ran outside and Jeremy posed as a friend in need. He then told the girls to jump in and took them to the Kansas border where he then shot both the girls in the head and disposed of their bodies in a mining pit. Although there have been numerous searches the girls were never found.

There were also other cases in Oklahoma that Jones confessed to but was never charged due to lack of evidence. In Delaware County Jones killed Doris Harris and Daniel Oakley. They were both shot and their trailer burned. In Pitcher Oklahoma Jones confessed to the death of 19 year old Justin Hutchings saying that he killed him with a lethal injection. There was also a case of Harmon Fenton and Sarah Palmer who were found dead in the back of their truck with gunshot wounds. And although Jones confessed to all these killings he was never charged or convicted, partly because of all the years that had passed while the investigations grew cold and the evidence slowly slipped away.

After Jeremy had left the Miami area for good he ended up back down south in Alabama. On Halloween night 2002, Jones ended up at his favorite bar in Douglasville. Everyone was dressed in full costumes. One lady, Tina Mayberry had called it a night and left. A couple minutes later she stumbled back into the bar with numerous stab wounds. Despite the fact that people were trying to help her, she died. Later onlookers would actually recall Jones being there and leaving around the same time. There would be no motive for this attack.

March 2003 a 16 year old girl, Amanda Greenwell had disappeared from her trailer park without a clue. Her badly decomposed body would be discovered a month later. She had been stabbed and her neck had been broken. Still no motive, no clue, no suspect.

In February 2004 a prostitute, Katherine Collins was found dead, stabbed to death in New Orleans. Jones would later confess to this killing saying that she deserved to die.

On April 15, 2004 a beauty shop owner names Patrice Endres had disappeared. A customer she had been waiting on showed up for an appointment and Patrice was nowhere to be found.  Later Jones would confess to stopping by the salon needing directions and when he noticed Patrice was the only one there he kidnapped, raped and killed her, throwing her body off a bridge.

In September 2004 a 45 year old lady was found dead in her bathroom. She had been brutally raped, shot three times in the head and set on fire. Her name was Lisa Nichols. A divorced mother of two girls. The neighbors in this case were actually helpful because they knew the vehicle that was sitting out front and even half of the plate number. The police got a break.

But Jones had been in and out of jail in Alabama and no one knew any better about his true identity. The finger prints came back clean, except for minor charges and he was always released. The FBI would later reveal that it was their database that kept the killer out of jail and on the streets. It was an error on their part.

Then one day Jeremy had called the police himself. Telling them what he had done and even talking about the weather. The police kept him on the phone long enough to track him down, and when they arrived he was still on the phone with them. He was waiting at the bus station getting ready to leave town again. Once in custody Jones wouldn’t admit to anything then they realized that the man they had in custody was John Paul Chapman, a man already serving a prison sentence in the state of Missouri. They had sent a photo back to the city of Miami asking his identity and it came back as Jeremy Brian Jones, a wanted man. Jeremy had asked to be brought back to Ottawa County but without clear evidence of the crimes he was only being charged in the state of Alabama, so his request was denied. Not long after Jones was arrested he soon grew intrigued by all the publicity he got and began to confess all his crimes to the police. He even said he was responsible for the deaths of the unknown prostitutes throughout the states and even giving details on how he bashed their heads in with crow bars, which was true because they had to be reconstructed for identification. But there never was enough evidence to charge him with that.

Jones was only charged with the deaths of 3 of the women although he confessed to over 20 different ones. The loved ones of these women got what they wanted when Jones was sentenced to death.

Jones just shrugged his shoulders and said that his Hepatitis C would kill him long before the state would. And that’s probably true.

And so Jones sits in prison still awaiting his fate. In one of the last interviews with Jeremy he said, “I am not going to beg for mercy, the one’s who want me dead should be the one’s begging for mercy”.

Jones claims that one day he’ll write him a book and sit back and laugh his ass off. We will just see about that.