Prime Crime: Family Viciously Murdered in Quiet Iowa Neighborhood

on Prime crime someone broken our house I've been shot my other family M's been shot I need help immediately a suspected home invasion leaves a family shattered I don't see any Hing for who this down here hey who are you dad is that your dad what happened he came down there was a man but as detectives dig deeper you know that somebody hurt family yeah and you know who hurt your family no oh yeah you do the story told by the Lone Survivor begins to unravel it was Daylight it was hot this person wearing all black and a ski mask and gloves breaking in a back door it didn't add up hey everybody I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to Prime crime this is where we break down some of the most compelling and memorable True Crime cases from across the country when a call comes in about a possible Breakin in an upscale neighborhood in Cedar Rapids Iowa officers aren't sure what they're going to be walking into it's a crime which leaves investigators wondering is the caller a victim or is he hiding a darker truth when County Sheriff where is your emergency I've been shot my other family M been shot I need help immediately okay sir stay on the line it's early morning June 15th 2021 police get a 911 call saying an intruder has broken into a family home okay what's going on has someone broke in I've been shot you've been shot my dad's been shot hold on just a second are they still there no they left did they come inside the house yeah it was before 8:30 a. m. police received a 911 call from uh Alex Jackson and he said that there was an intruder that had broken into their home where were you shot at downstairs no on your body foot in your foot foot do you know who broke in no did you get a look at them no cuz you tell if it was a man or a woman man I think I spoke do you know how they got in the house the back door I think it's open so burglaries don't necessarily have to stick to a certain script there are certain characteristics of a burglary that we come to expect daytime burglaries usually result in pushing burglaries or going to a less visible part of the house breaking in through a window kicking in a back door something of that nature you're doing great Alex you're doing good is anybody else home with you my sister your sister where's she at her bedroom what's your sister's name where is this I just want to make sure that we know who's supposed to be in that house okay this person that you saw in your house did they leave out the back door yeah yeah how long ago was this oh don't know you don't know 10 minutes ago do you remember what color shirt or what color hair this guy had anything about him black you think it was a black mail or a black [Music] shirt when he's asked to describe the Intruder he simply describes him as a male black with no specific features um no real uh description of his CL clothing his age one could argue that this was an individual who was in shock after just seeing his family gunned down he probably was in shock I'm sure but he didn't give a lot of details to the dispatcher she was trying to draw it out of him just you and your sister in the house right yeah no parents or grandparents animals my mom's your okay so you your sister and your mom yeah okay my Dad's here do you know of mom and sister say safe did the guy go upstairs well I don't see them Alex do you have any weapons downstairs any guns knives anything like that no but there's a gun on the floor there is that's not yours it it's ours but we got shot by it so he took your gun and shot you yes in this case lots of potential people responding to the scene including police so when they got there to to the Jackson home I don't think they knew what they were going to find I've got officers in the back and the front they're just trying to get mom and sister to come to the door if they're there okay that's why they're ringing your doorbell could sister and Mom be gone do you think hopefully do you think you know who did this to you no officers arrive on scene but there's a lot of confusion this is the very last house at the dead end of the right correct you have to realize that this is um a fairly affluent community in Cedar Rapids and it's also a quiet community and so when they arrive at the house they don't really hear anything this sounds if there's people in the house there's no reason they can't come out this is sound like all right well I'm going to go around to the back I'm going to see if I can get eyes this is sounding I'm just going to knock I don't see any Hing we're wondering if it's not a swatting call they're trying to get information from dispatch is the perpetrator is still ins side where are people where should we go they classified as a potential swatting um situation A swatting situation is when people kind of give a false call just to get an officer's reaction or get police there and it's really nothing back door is open all the shades are drawn so I can't really see anything I'm getting no answer to the door shot every door and window in this home were locked except for the one that was on the lower level basement backside of the home it takes them a while to even get into the house and then they're confronted with the horror of Jan laying on the floor there's a rifle next to him he doesn't look like he's alive at that point and then they hear Alex's voice Police Department where are you at we got with one subject in the house you down here by yourself there's a subject down can you put your hands out to the side where I can see them um I have my hand on my foot 115 multiple victims one is a gunshot wound the other is a wounded in the leg who's this down here hey who are you dad is that your dad what happened he came down there was a man who shot your who else is here my sister she in the back yeah she's in her room is she okay I I think so Alex initially appeared to be distraught he sounded to be in pain and he didn't really talk very much about the very apparent injuries to his father third victim third victim yeah when they eventually get inside they have their gun Strawn they're going from room to room to see if there is in fact an intruder still there watch my back Police Department sound off if you're here when they realize he's not there um that there's no Intruder they come upon a pretty horrific scene there is blood everywhere there is Jan Jackson laying in the living room and then Sabrina Alex's sister is in her bedroom to the officers it's now apparent that this isn't just a Breakin it's a violent crime scene okay I'm going to go here looks like a master bedroom forth victim be the light yep 692 we have a fourth victim um upstairs bedroom they weren't expecting this they were told that this was a burglary what turned out to be just supposed to be a simple call of somebody breaking in maybe there's somebody that's been shot that also now we have two dead bodies and we have another one injured they go upstairs to continue the productive sweep and they find Melissa Jackson dead off the bed so we had triple homicide anybody tell they're starting to put together that this is not what we were called for that this is going to be a triple homicide the Jackson family there was Jan and Melissa who were the mother and the father and then the had Sabrina and she was 19 Alex Jackson was her son who was 20 at the time Alex and Sabrina had been in college Alex had been like an eagle scout in high school he played in the high school band and so had Sabrina I believe she played the OBO and he played the flute Jan worked in it and Melissa she was retired but was a photographer they kept to themselves they were very quiet about things they did not have a lot of local friends they didn't have any other family in the area investigators are now confronted with a storm of unanswered questions up next The Hunt is on for a killer but could the culprit be closer than they realize see you got some water on your hands too if I take some photos of that here I think that's [Music] Alex what happened there was a man what man a tall man okay he he's in shock about everything police are investigating the tragic triple homicide of Jan Melissa and Saina Jackson after their 20-year-old son and brother Alexander Jackson called 91 one to report an intruder in the family home when officers arrive they get a closer look around and take stock of the crime scenes spread across several rooms the first thing that law enforcement needs to do is figure out what happened if it wasn't Intruder is this a person that came to steal something and then just came upon the family and then killed them is this someone that intentionally came for the purpose of killing this family first one is right here shot in the head watch out out you don't step on the rounds multiple gunshot wounds dad's down with a gunshot wound to the Head a female DOA in the bedroom over there mom's do upstairs uh believe this is a son he was hit in the foot okay we are not sure what no idea there is a rifle on the ground here there's a rifle next to Jan that has to be tested is that the weapon that fired the Fatal shots but at that moment they don't know if there's more than one weapon involved where's the next one right here another gunshot to the Head yeah I don't know where the entrance went Jesus Christ a teenager Jan the father was shot five times he was shot in the chest neck back all of them piercing vital internal structures and from that he has injuries on his face from falling over Sabrina was shot twice Melissa was shot twice one near the left eye and the other in the head both of those piercing the brain the first priority is getting Alex to the hospital and investigators must move quickly to figure out who could have done this but once they get in the ambulance Alex starts talking unprompted I ran into him you ran into who the man okay you ran into and how hit like a fist or I okay I charged my foot you were sleeping in the porch yeah okay then what happened did you hear gunshots or what yeah and then saw somebody in your house yeah Alex who opened the back door uh I don't know maybe he did you only saw one guy yeah one gun yeah there's almost a nonchalant uh way about Alex Jackson I think he almost Chuckles at one point it's almost like he has no grasper or concept that his entire family has been killed for talk she's really good once they arrive at the emergency room Alex continues talking and at times he repeats what he claims he saw that morning a man above your dad is that all you want to say I think you hear right now what happened to you I push pushed him try to take the gun and well see what happened so you tried to take the gun from the guy yeah and then you got that happened okay he's in pain which you can understand if if he was shot in the foot but he's still not saying a whole lot he's still just kind of saying the same story and he says he didn't see who it was he does ask if they found his parents or if they found his sister and how are they but nobody's really answering his questions then detectives get more of the story we start out with like last night maybe like what time did you get home last night or I was home okay all day okay what time did you go to bed 11 I think sleep at the porch how come you SLE on the porch is that ni were you the last one to go to bed uh maybe I think my mom was still walk around the investigators did ask Alex what led up to this what led up to the night anything happened and he basically said nothing out of the ordinary happened they had spent the night together they had dinner they watched movies who went here at the house M dad sister and dog what time did you wake up this morning I woke up and heard gunshots I went inside take your time he's F than me I think I don't know why he was there I heard it downstairs so I went downstairs he with my dad's gun he have a mask on oh one of those whatever did you see his hair no his shoes think they again they ask him questions about the Intruder about what the Intruder looked like how it was that the Intruder came in throughout the questioning whether it be in the house in the ambulance at the hospital he's not very specific he describes in as male black he describes something that they're wearing he describes at one point the guy cursing but he really doesn't give any substantive descriptions of this person such that one would expect they'd ever be able to find that person he was messing with your dad's gun and what happened well he's messing up so my dad I think he was on the floor and I ran at him you ran the guy gu yeah then what happened I pushed him did he say anything to you quite deep uh what quite deep yeah deep what did they say you thank think I the gun go [Music] fired and then obviously that happened he fired it yeah and it shot you in the yeah think I saw I saw him running but I don't care my [Music] phone investigators begin to realize many details of Alex's account aren't quite adding up so their focus begins to narrow on Alex himself you think uh someone was upset with your your family if I don't know what you don't don't know who or what what they'd be upset about how do you feel about your family I love my [Music] family do they ever do anything that that upsets you oh yeah he very rarely showed any remorse for his family he started to express like are they okay it was like a rehearse speech that he had ready like he said like I love my family I love my parents and my sister you may not believe me but I love them there was no passion or raw emotion he's acting like it it's just like no big deal in a way the way he talks but it is probably going back to he could still be in shock or maybe he's just an awkward kid he says he loves his family he doesn't have any problem with his family and they keep pushing that because they're trying to get more answers about it but he just says that it wasn't him despite Alex's statements the evidence at the scene appears to be pointing in a different direction coming up detectives wonder if Alex Jackson is telling the whole truth I was just like to understand why you don't want to talk about all the details that's why I didn't do this that's what you're trying to say by the way as you can see from a story like this the content that we're covering here on Prime crime just shows you that the world is not a safe place and one of the things that we try to do is partner with companies that can help to protect you and that includes home title lock because I don't know if you know this but apparently home title fraud is rampant right now yes so I met with the people over at home title lock they're our incredible partner and sponsor I'm not going to lie to you they freaked me out this is an example of a fraudulent Quick Claim Deed got filled out with my information a forged signature fake notary seal not only can my property just get transferred behind my back but the scammers they go after the equity they take out loans using your home as 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com Prim crime use our promo code Prime crime because you get a 30-day free trial of the triple lock protection and a free title history report to make sure you aren't already a victim what's perplexing to me right now is for me to understand why you would I wouldn't something happened in your house and we're just trying to figure out why detectives aren't exactly sure what led to an Iowa family being gunned down in their own home but the Lone Survivor of the family Alexander Jackson tells investigators that he awoke to gunshots and fought with the Intruder your dad was there laying on the ground and then you called 911 well I called it after craw away was your dad saying anything or did you talk to him at [Applause] all I know it's but but when officers do a sweep of the area surrounding the Jackson's home Alex's Story begins to fall apart you guys hear anything did you guys hear any shots CID police K9 anybody in the area sound off you will be bit by my dog last and final warning Officer Curtis buckles and his K9 partner Corsa what they need to First figure out is is there another person that was there they were told that this person escaped or left the back door area and took off running they wanted to see if they could pick up the scense of another individual they checked the trails or areas where someone may have gone those weren't Disturbed they looked for fingerprints they looked for DNA they looked for anything to show that someone broke in to disturb something to take something there's no indication of that when talking these construction workers though at some point make sure no she's not picking anything up coming through here so I've walked all this and the only place she had interest was right here back at the hospital detectives confront Alex on the inconsistencies in his story after he shot you he left I think so okay did he still have the gun I don't know okay where else would it have gone did you or did you get it away from him I I don't remember I know we arrest over the investigators during all this they're like at his home going through everything what was strange was that there was nothing nothing to miss in the house nothing was turned over everything was in its place there was even I believe a puzzle nearby on a table that none of the pieces were on the floor when we stepped out we talked to coworkers they were at the at your house through your house through the neighborhood and uh Alex the the reality is there's not not any evidence that anyone else was over at your house it's okay it's okay Alex do you want to tell us what happened really happen I went downstairs and the man was there i f him I shot I think he left that's that's not what the evidence is show you the fact that it was Daylight not just daylight but it was hot this date will stick out in my memory forever based on just the sheer temperature that it was at 8:00 in the morning so the description of this person wearing all black and a ski mask and gloves you know walking through this affluent neighborhood in broad daylight it didn't add up there had been a person there there would be some evidence that he showed up there is no evidence for that no one else was there something bad happened and there's a reason why something bad happened MH uh and I know you know that reason but I don't and I want to understand it I don't know well you do what happened that led to the events today what caused this I don't know I just woke up in the morning what really caught officer attention was if someone had come in broken into the house used the gun shot the family and then shot Alex why would they leave the gun behind the gun that was used was the Jackson's family gun it was actually Al Jackson's gun it was a brown 22 rifle do you want our report to reflect that there was a guy in your house there's no evidence of of course there was a guy in my house listen to me do you want us to write down in a report that there was a guy in your house that there's no video of never showing up or leaving do you want us to put that down or do you want to give us some sort of an explanation that makes sense I want they going show the Jackson home had external surveillance cameras set up all along the outside of the home all of the surveillance videos were on and live and recording except that one in the backyard that would have specifically caught this Phantom burglar what do you think about what happened to your sister what happened to her she all right you know that somebody hurt your family yeah and you know who hurt your family no well yeah I do you do not what do you mean go there's not a guy a guy that didn't happen so the person that hurt your family was the your M who W it's not me you hurt your family no I would never there's one key question still on everyone's mind if Alex did kill his parents and sister why would he want them dead you work no where'd you go to school at Iowa oh are you still in uhh the problem law enforcement had with this case is here you had what seemed from the outside to be a fairly normal family Dynamic Alex Jackson had no history of criminality he had no history of mental health issues and no one seemed to have any basis to believe that there would be any motive why he would want his family dead how's your dad feel about your choices Life Choices um I guess he wants me just more zero M have you ever had any problems with him serious problems with him I can judge in your life ores he proud of me yeah how about not yeah same mhm sister I guess Alex said that his dad had threatened to kick him out or told him he would have to move out if he didn't get a job because he had been going to college but he dropped out tell me more about your do he get along with you people in general including you then why were you guys s so many problem what about him telling you you need to move out you're not going to get a job well that's just because what I should do if I'm going to pay for half your college you're going to get a job you're going to pay for the other half you you're not showing any effort you haven't showed a drop of effort to go get a job motive was something that that plagued us could it have been money absolutely at the time he only had $30 to his name he did not have a job he did not have savings there was a fair amount of wealth and assets to be attained by whoever the surviving air was are we going to find anybody else's fingerprints on those shell cases besides I don't think so are you going to continue to tell me that you had nothing to do with it yes you are the only story there is no it's not you're going to continue with that story what's my St tell me about your story the great story it's the correct your mind this was our first triple homicide here for at least 30 years to have this type of brutal crime scene to have this type of murder happened in your own Community just really really took back everyone no one could have ever imagined when the information came out that this was caused by a 20-year-old kid that anyone would kill their parents and their sister in this matter this young man with no criminal record and no previously reported mental health issues is accused of killing his own family up next is there enough evidence to bring murder charges against Alexander Jackson you weren't thinking straight Alec you weren't people that are thinking straight don't do these kind of things they talk themselves out of it by the way we plugged in Alexander Jackson into truthfinder our sponsor the powerful background Checker it is so easy to do you just plug in a name location and you get all these details where someone lives Works their criminal history we use it all the time at long crime to get information on the people that we report on but I'll tell you what even if you don't work in True Crime this can be a great resource because think about it this is one of the largest public record search services in the United States and with a paid subscription service you can get access to unlimited reports about almost anyone and that includes looking up registered sex offenders that might be in an area too and right now you can get 50% off of confidential background reports just go to truthfinder. com lcpr Crime hope you check it out [Music] you're brainstorming how to get your ass out of this trouble you're in the gigs up bud I Didn't Do It detectives believe they know who's responsible for killing Jan Melissa and Sabrina Jackson despite his claims of innocence and contention that a massed intruder is the real shooter son and brother Alexander Jackson is taken into custody but investigators have a few more questions to hash out we took took into account your theory about a ski Mast Intruder uh coming in with the the worst description on the planet you got to just be honest with this man we know no one left well I'm telling you how I saw it you know right you still think someone was there yeah do I know someone was there who's using your phone at 6:00 a. m.