Marion county man charged in death of his mother

Marion County Sheriff's Office (file photo)

Marion County Sheriff’s Office (file photo)

by Charlie Comfort

Knoxville, Iowa- Two days after a jury in a civil trial found him liable for his mother’s death, 45 year old Jason Gene Carter was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Sunday afternoon. Authorities officially announced the arrest at a press conference Monday morning at the Marion County Law Enforcement Center. According to Special Agent Mike Motsinger, with the Division of Criminal Investigation, Carter was arrested without incident. Marion County Sheriff Jason Sandholdt said at the press conference that Carter was arrested at a gas station on the north side of Knoxville.

“He had pulled in to get gas in a vehicle,” Sandholdt said. “He was under surveillance,” Sandholdt added, though he did not say how long Carter had been under surveillance.

According to reporting by KNIA/KRLS radio, a Marion County jury on Friday found Carter to be liable for his mother’s death and was ordered to pay over $10,000,000 in damages. The civil lawsuit was brought by Jason’s father Bill, and pitted father vs son in a Marion county courtroom during the two week trial. Shirley Carter was killed on June 19th, 2015. Online court records indicate the civil trial was filed on January 5, 2016.

At Monday’s press conference, special agent Mike Motsinger said that agents had reviewed thousands of pieces of evidence compiled in the criminal investigation, as well as had reviewed testimony and evidence presented in the civil trial. Motsinger acknowledged that the civil trial had added in some of the missing links investigators needed to charge Carter. Some of this information came from depositions presented in the civil trial.

“[With] information that was obtained through the civil process, yesterday it was decided to get Mr. Carter in custody and charge him with murder in the 1st degree,” Motsinger said.

Authorities on Monday also released a criminal complaint charging Carter with first-degree murder. In the criminal complaint, authorities allege that Jason Carter shot and killed his mother, Shirley Carter, on June 19th, 2015, and then staged her home to make it appear that the home had been burglarized. Authorities also allege that Carter was not truthful with law enforcement.

“Jason Carter gave multiple inconsistent statements regarding his involvement during the course of the investigation,” the compliant states.

The complaint goes on to state that Carter’s fingerprints were found at the scene and Carter revealed information to investigators that the general public would not know about the crime.

“Jason Carter testified under oath that he has never touched evidence at the crime scene and evidence later established that Jason Carter’s latent prints were found on the evidence,” the complaint states. “Jason Carter had knowledge of the crime that no one other than a person present at the time of the crime would have known,” the complaint also states.

Authorities on Monday also reminded the public that the verdict in the civil case bears virtually no weight in the now pending criminal case. In a civil trial, jurors must decide beyond a preponderance of the evidence, which is a much lower standard than criminal cases. However, in a criminal trial, jurors must decide beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant is guilty. Despite this, authorities say they are confident in their case.

“We’re ready to go,” Motsinger said of the criminal case.

Jason Carter was set to make his initial appearance Monday morning in Marion County district court. His bond has been set at $1,000,000 cash only. Online court records do not yet list the criminal case.

A criminal charge is merely a criminal charge and not an indication of guilt. All suspects should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Posted by on Dec 19 2017. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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