EP. 139: SOUTH CAROLINA - Timothy Jones Jr.: The Father Who Strangled His 5 Children
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Warning, the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. Good parents always try to make the best decisions for their kids.

And at the end of the day, they'll sacrifice their own happiness to make sure their kids get the life they deserve. In our story for today, we are going to talk about the Jones family. There was Timothy, the father, Amber, the mother, and their five children, Mira, Elias, Natan, Gabriel, and Elaine.

After years of a tumultuous and violent marriage, Timothy and Amber finally decided to part ways, with Timothy gaining full custody of their children, something that normally doesn't happen. But in Amber's mind, this was the best thing for her kids. After all, Timothy was the one who had the financial means to support them.

So she gave up her own happiness for the betterment of her children. However, Amber could have never known that her kids were in danger. Parents are the ones who are supposed to keep their kids safe. And she thought Timothy would take that role seriously. As famed neurologist and psychologist Sigmund Freud once said, quote, "'I cannot think of any need in childhood "'as strong as the need for a father's protection.'"

But the father you're going to learn about today did just the opposite. In fact, he became his children's worst nightmare. You see, every once in a while, parents fail their children. And sometimes, in the worst of cases, they kill them. This is the story of Timothy Jones Jr. I'm Courtney Browen. - And I'm Colin Browen. - And you're listening to "Murder in America."

Timothy Jones Jr. was born on December 28, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Timothy Jones Sr. and Cynthia Jones, both carried the weight of generational abuse, a weight that hung over Timothy's childhood like a dark cloud.

For his parents, the cycle of abuse was a tragic melody that repeated itself, and they themselves seemed powerless to change the tune. Tim Jones's father, Timothy Sr., was born under very distressing circumstances after his mother, Roberta, was raped by her own stepfather. After being raped, she was then coerced into marrying her abuser,

and Timothy Sr. was an unwilling witness to this abuse. Then, even after Roberta managed to flee the oppressive marriage, her experiences warped her into an abusive person towards everyone else. Then we take a look at Timothy Jones' mother, Cynthia. She

She herself was a victim of patriarchal abuse, with her father sexually assaulting her on the regular. Cynthia lived with a plethora of undetected and untreated mental health issues, and often acted unpredictably. With all of these repressed feelings, she was known to act out with aggressive explosions. Young Timothy was constantly surrounded by abuse, and sadly, he would continue the cycle in his relationships.

But in his childhood, his mother Cynthia treated him with a cold indifference. When Timothy would cry, she would neglect him, leaving him to depend only on himself. In an unsettling attempt to control his cries, Cynthia eventually resorted to using ice baths to shock Timothy into silence, and she would frequently express absurd concerns about his weight.

She seemed to believe that her son was overweight, and against medical advice, she would feed him laxatives. She was also known to cut up his clothing with a knife, leaving his shirts and pants ragged and covered in slashes, for reasons that are still unknown to this very day. Unexpectedly, one day, Cynthia and young Timothy vanished for several months.

until Timothy Sr. finally tracked them down. This incident resulted in Timothy Sr. gaining full custody of his son. And from there, Cynthia was diagnosed with schizophrenia and placed in an institution. And sadly, this tumultuous chapter of Timothy's life all took place before his third birthday.

After this dramatic turn of events, both Timothy Sr. and Timothy Jr. went to live with Timothy Jr.'s grandmother, Roberta. And sadly, the abusive young Timothy continued. Timothy was often prone to watching acts of domestic violence being committed by both Roberta and Timothy Sr. towards their various partners, and this psychologically damaging household also normalized drug use, setting a harmful precedent for the young impressionable child. Drug use was rampant in the home, and Timothy was a witness to all of it.

later in life timothy would ultimately fall prey to the world in which she was exposed to and followed in the footsteps of his father by abusing drugs and alcohol as an adult

It can be assumed that drug and alcohol use was normalized for Timothy at this young age. At the age of 15, Timothy found himself having a near-death experience when he was involved in a car accident as a passenger. One evening, while driving with his cousin who was driving under the influence, Timothy's cousin suddenly veered off the road and crashed into a tree. The trauma from the accident sent Timothy to the hospital with a brain injury. And as a result of his injury, Timothy experienced a dramatic and drastic personality shift.

which is sadly common for people with brain injuries. This physical and mental shift resulted in a myriad of mental health issues for Timothy, including depression, paranoia, and auditory and visual hallucinations. So obviously, Timothy Jr. didn't have a very stable or happy childhood, and life wasn't going to get better for him anytime soon. - According to Timothy himself, his social life was lacking throughout his adolescent years.

He said that growing up in Chicago caused him to have a tough exterior. There were times when he was bullied, other times when kids would knock him out, and he was considered to be an outcast. My nickname in high school was the crazy white guy. Crazy white guy? I'm not joking. Yeah, that was my nickname.

After graduating high school, Timothy decided that he was going to chart a new course and join the Navy. He later stated that he joined the Navy because the strict discipline that they instilled in recruits appealed to him. However, his stint in the military wouldn't last long. Shortly after Timothy joined, he was discharged after being found in possession of illegal substances.

He had snuck in Scooby Snacks, a synthetic form of marijuana, a drug that he would use frequently throughout his life. But not long after being discharged from the Navy, Timothy's life took a sharp and dark turn, and he began committing crimes like forging checks and stealing cars. However, that lifestyle didn't last long either.

Eventually, he was caught and arrested pretty quickly. But these crimes that Timothy committed resulted in a seven-year prison sentence, which he started in 2001 at the age of 19. His time in prison was spent at a boot camp-style facility that utilized harsh physical training to try and rehabilitate the inmates.

But as we always hear, his stint in prison ended early due to good behavior. And from there, he was released back into the real world in 2003 at the age of 21. After his stint in prison, Timothy turned to spirituality, religion, and education to try and find purpose in his life.

He became a member of the Pentecostal Church and he attended Mississippi State University, where he went on to earn a degree in computer engineering. Things were really looking up for him and shortly after he landed a respectable job in his field.

It was during this period of personal growth and transformation when Timothy met his future wife, Amber Kaiser. Upon their meeting, there was an immediate spark between the two, and their whirlwind romance resulted in marriage in the year 2004. In the beginning, Tim and I had a very strong relationship. I think we found a lot in common. I wasn't speaking to my family at the time, and I'm not sure if he was really speaking to his at the time when we first met. And we just kind of latched onto each other.

Timothy and Amber were in love, and it wasn't long before the couple began having children. In fact, Timothy and Amber welcomed three children into the world in a short period of time, between the years 2006 and 2008. Since the couple moved around frequently, their children were born all across the United States, with their daughter, Mara, being born in Pennsylvania, and their sons, Elias and Natan, being both born in Mississippi. But soon enough, Amber would realize that her husband had some issues.

He could be violent at times, and she didn't really have anyone to talk to about it. We would go to the Jones family's residence, his dad's residence, every Saturday, I believe, to have family dinners. That was my break out of my home. And I would vent to my mother-in-law or just have a moment and cry because that's all I could do.

And now that they had three children, the stress of life started to weigh heavily on Timothy. Before he knew it, he suddenly found himself having to support a growing family, and they had a lot of bills to pay. It was a lot of work, but luckily he had a good job, and at the time he was working at Intel.

His annual salary was around $80,000 and he liked his job. And for the job, the family relocated to Lexington, South Carolina, where they moved into a modest trailer home. And everything seemed good for a while. The kids were happy, the home was stable, Timothy and Amber had their own problems, but they were still in love and life seemed good. However, this seemingly serene period of bliss wouldn't last for long. After the family relocated to South Carolina,

Something changed in Timothy, and he began to reimplement the strict religious principles he had learned after his time spent in prison. And these principles manifested as radical rules that he imposed upon his family. Timothy demanded complete obedience from his wife Amber. He also began restricting her from using makeup, cutting her hair, and even wearing pants. Yes, that's right, he forbade her from wearing pants around him.

Timothy expected Amber to solely focus on motherhood and her job of being a homemaker, and began to dictate the number of children he thought she should bear. He also began to isolate Amber from her family and friends, and forced her to sever ties with her loved ones. If Amber deviated from any one of his twisted rules, Timothy would react violently, often in front of their children. According to Amber, his attitude was that women should be obedient and silent, and that the couple's children should be kept out of sight and out of mind.

He also envisioned having much more than five kids and often stated that he dreamed of having a, quote, farm full of children, end quote.

In the year 2011, Timothy's harsh and violent actions and beliefs began attracting the attention of the Department of Social Services. And at the same time, tensions in the Jones household were reaching a boiling point. In a heated exchange with his neighbor, Timothy made a chilling threat to shoot their beloved pet.

And this threat eventually made its way to DSS, who decided it was finally time to conduct a former welfare check. When DSS initially showed up at the Jones residence, there were no observable indications of child abuse. But during the check, the caseworkers investigated their home, and the post-check report indicated that the house was disorganized and in disarray.

It also stated that inside of the home was a broken restroom, uncleaned vents, loose trash scattered about, and an infestation of cockroaches. Obviously, this wasn't a suitable house to be raising children in, with all of the safety hazards scattered throughout. But Timothy, the father, passed the test, and he was deemed to be a somewhat responsible dad.

And so the response from DSS at the time centered on urging the family to clean up their home and establish a safety plan. But sadly, this plan was never implemented. Now one would think that after DSS comes to investigate your family, you'd get your act together. But Timothy's abuse was at its peak. Here is one incident that Amber would later recall. - One incident in particular,

We were arguing, and I can't remember what it was about. But Tim grabbed me by the side of my head and head-butted me to the point where I just blanked out. And when I got up, it was kind of what just happened. But I could feel my head kind of jar, my brain jar in my skull. And then shortly after that, he threw a phone at my face and broke my back teeth out. As the abuse reports began to pile up,

DSS began to piece together a horrifying picture of the domestic violence that the children were being exposed to. And not only would he beat Amber in front of the kids, but he would also verbally abuse her. The verbal abuse was always that he would chop me up and feed me to the pigs because pigs will eat everything on me but my teeth and I'll never be found. It was very clear that Timothy loved controlling his wife.

He also loved to scare her. According to Amber, he threatened to kill her all the time. And although he never outright threatened to kill the kids, he would behave in a manner that directly put their lives in danger. Tim and I were leaving Walmart and we had gotten into an argument and he said, "Hey, let's just play chicken then."

you know, in a more stern, argumentative tone. And I said, Tim, it's not funny. It's not effing funny. It's not effing funny. We had the kids in the back seat. So an 18-wheeler was coming this way, and Tim steered the car where the 18-wheeler would hit me directly. And as we were driving toward the 18-wheeler, I mean, it wasn't much of a distance at all, and Tim jerked the car that way.

and just started laughing about it like it was funny. Had that 18-wheeler hit, it would have killed. It would have killed everybody in the car.

By the year 2012, Timothy and Amber's family had grown by two more. Gabriel Asher, the couple's fourth child, was born on December 5th, 2011. And their last kid, Abigail Elizabeth, who later changed her name to Elaine Marie, arrived a little over a year later, on December 12th, 2012. But Amber would later say that even while she was pregnant, her husband would still physically and verbally assault her in front of the kids.

My daughter, my oldest two probably witness the most. Mira witnessed a lot of Tim spitting in my face. I was always a whore, spitting in my face. I'm not talking just, I'm talking like hawking loogies and spitting them in my face.

He would take me by the side of my hair and smack my head as hard as he could off the car window or while I was pregnant and we would be arguing in the car, he would stomp the brake to where the belt would just tighten around my stomach.

But the one thing that kept Amber around was her children. She loved them more than anything in this world. But even with the birth of Gabriel and Elaine, there were dark skies on the horizon. You see, in the summer of 2012, a few months before the birth of Abigail, Amber was swept off her feet by a 19-year-old boy who lived in their neighborhood. For years, she had lived with a controlling, abusive husband who barely showed her any affection. And this new young man in her life seemed to provide her with the emotional and romantic satisfaction that she so desperately craved.

Unfortunately though, Timothy would find out about this budding relationship and his response, like usual, was nothing short of drastic.

Making a rash decision on the fly, Timothy then hastily packed up all of his belongings along with those of his children and returned to his old stomping grounds in Mississippi, leaving behind the life he had built with Amber. He simultaneously initiated a divorce action, requesting sole physical and legal custody of all five kids. Amber was kept in the dark about this sudden change, as at that point Timothy had already cut off all of her connection between she and the children.

And this left her in profound shock when she discovered that her entire family had vanished. When questioned about why he decided to part ways with Amber so abruptly, Timothy pointed out a few main reasons. He obviously accused Amber of infidelity and maintained that she neglected her household chores and duties. He also criticized her lifestyle choices, none of which, according to him, belonged in a healthy home environment.

Clueless and financially incapacitated, Amber then tangled herself in a custody battle for her children. She wasn't just going to let her husband up and disappear with her kids without putting up a fight. However, her chances of winning were slim to none due to her jobless status, a situation, ironically, orchestrated by Timothy himself.

You see, after Timothy had left with the kids, Amber had been left without a support system, with no friends or family to reach out to for help. She couldn't even pay her own bills. So in her mind, maybe Timothy having custody was the best decision at the time. Towards the end of our marriage, I think I was thinking in the best interest for my children that it was not a good environment. It was not something that children need to be seeing. So we separated ourselves. Tim initially left us.

me and turned my power off and stuff. And I found it really hard because I just had nothing to offer my children. I could not provide for them. I think as a mother, I was making the best choice that I could.

The marital discord between Amber and Timothy reached its conclusion in October 2013 with the finalization of their divorce, and Timothy was awarded full custody rights over all five of their children. Amber, thankfully, however, was at least granted a concrete schedule of visitation, alternate weekends, and a handful of annual holidays.

But in an uncharacteristic move, Timothy eventually moved back to South Carolina, and he allowed Amber to continue her nightly ritual of bedtime chats with the kids. Their meeting point was often the Lexington Chick-fil-A, where they would reconnect. "Wart didn't find anything wrong with me as a parent. I had joint custody. I chose, as a mother, what I thought was the most responsible thing, was making him primary custodial parent."

I obtained a car, I obtained a license, I got a management job, and I got my high school diploma, all to prove to the system that I was a good enough parent. It just wasn't good enough for Tim." Amber said that it was absolutely devastating not getting to see her children every day, but she just didn't have the financial means to give them the life they deserved.

However, she did tell them all the time just how much she loved them. I didn't have physical means, but they were very loved. This is something I tell my kids every night. I do. I told them all. I talk to them on the phone, and I mean it. My kids were wanted. They are loved, and they are important. They are loved. They are wanted, and they are important. Always. Always.

I've always wanted them. I've always loved them. I've never told them that I didn't want them. But once the divorce settled, Timothy was confronted with the harsh reality of solo parenting. Suddenly, all of his time was going towards caring for his children. And so, overwhelmed and recognizing his limitations, he started looking for someone who could help with the kids.

He employed several nannies and enrolled the kids in the Salvation Army's Sunday evening youth program. He also registered them in public school. And this is a pretty surprising twist, considering this is the same man who insisted on having his wife Amber homeschool the kids while they were together. But without his wife around to pick on and abuse, Timothy quickly found another target.

his own children. And the abuse began to escalate rapidly once he became more dependent on synthetic marijuana and alcohol. It's at this time where Timothy's rules and regulations for his kids became increasingly unreasonable.

And the punishments became even harsher and were used as methods to control the children. When his kids didn't listen, he subjected them to grueling exercise routines, a discipline he picked up in his time spent behind bars. And if Timothy thought that the exercise wasn't hard enough, he would then physically assault his kids.

It also was pretty common for Timothy to forcefully pull the children around by their arms or wrists. He would whip them or shove them up against walls, sometimes even choke them. Food restriction was also another form of punishment. At one point, the kids had a babysitter named Joy Lorig, and she would later say that Timothy never had food in the house.

There were many days when all she could make for the kids was oatmeal, and they would have to eat it all day long because there was nothing else. I just remember me feeding them oatmeal all day, and I remember a certain time when they had told me it was one day that he was getting off work, and I hear they just kept asking for oatmeal all day, and I fed them, you know, any kids, I'm going to feed them. I don't care how much that kid done ate, like an hour, two hours ago, I'm going to feed them.

And I remember they said, "Ms. Joy, could you not tell Daddy you just fed us because he might not feed us again?" And I said, "I would never do that to y'all." Joy also said that Timothy would force his children to eat food that was days old. And until they ate it, he wouldn't give them anything else to eat. One particular day, I got into the house and I watched the kids Monday through Friday.

I got back. I forgot what Pacific day this was, but I got back. Well, it was something where Gabe wouldn't eat his food. And I remembered I had made the kids food. I had cooked them, was cooking them oatmeal that day. And I remember, I can't remember who it was, but they went in the refrigerator and they pulled out this bowl.

And I was like, what is that? And they was like, that's what daddy made a couple of nights before, but Gabe wouldn't eat it. So he said, Gabe has to eat it. They said so much joy, Gabe has to eat that food. And I said, no, he's not. He's going to eat what we're eating now. I'm not making him and I threw it away. According to her, the children would get so excited on the rare chance their father brought home food.

One unforgettable incident occurred when Timothy bought a single McDonald's chicken nugget meal home for his five kids to split amongst themselves. If you don't know the portion sizes at McDonald's, this meant that each kid at most received two single chicken nuggets for what Timothy considered to be a full meal.

Timothy often sent his children to school with bruises all over their faces and bodies, bruises which served as stark evidence that they were being raised in a violent home. When questioned by their teachers at school about their bruises, the kids eventually admitted that their father was responsible for their injuries, and went into some detail about what was happening to them at home.

But, despite hearing testimony from the kids about the horrifying abuse they were facing at home, local authorities took no action. As it later turned out, the various agencies in town disregarded a flurry of reports that were given to them at the time, a grim indictment of negligence. During one visit by the Department of Social Services, or DSS, caseworkers noticed that one of the Jones children had severe bruising on their body, and all that they did in response to this was order Timothy not to physically punish his kids.

But of course, they weren't going to do anything to follow up and make sure he was following orders. And this was not a one-off scenario, as it turned out. This pattern of abuse being reported, then cases being closed and forgotten, repeated itself 11 times. Yep, you heard that right, 11 separate times. DSS officials would receive reports, come out to the Jones residence, take some notes and make some observations, create a safety plan,

and then vanished without any further follow-ups. These laid-out safety plans tragically remained on paper, while the agony that the children were experiencing continued in reality. Now, after one of these DSS reports in May of 2014, Timothy decided he didn't want his kids in public school anymore, and for the following school year, he wanted them homeschooled. He even asked Joy, their babysitter, to homeschool them, but she said no because she just didn't have the credentials.

Now this babysitter Joy absolutely loved these kids.

She even accompanied them on a trip to Disneyland in July of 2014. But Joy said that on this trip, she witnessed firsthand Timothy's abuse. We was driving. Well, anybody that knows kids, like when you driving a short, long period of time, kids tend to get agitated. And so the kids start like moving around, yelling, jumping around and stuff. And Mr. Jones told him that he would pull to the side of the road and make them get out and do squats.

Joy said she tried to deescalate things. She was not about to let the kids do squats on this side of the road. And eventually they kept on driving. But sadly, Joy said that the abuse continued back at the hotel. At one point, Timothy heard Natan and Gabe playing a little too loudly.

And Joy said he marched into the room, pulled down their pants, and began excessively beating them with a belt. And all Joy could do was just watch in horror because Gabe was only two years old. It wasn't long after this where Joy quit working for the family. Not because she didn't love them, but because she no longer had transportation to get to their house every day. But after she quit, things were weighing on her.

She knew the Jones children were being abused by their father. She even called their other babysitter to make sure she was feeding the kids extra so they wouldn't go to bed hungry. I just remember after I stopped keeping them, I asked Miss Elkita to please make sure that she fed them.

because I wasn't too sure how he felt at nighttime. - Miss Flora, one of the reasons you ended up in that job is because you love kids. - Oh, yes. - Everybody knows that about you. - Oh, yes. - And these kids you love with your whole heart. - Oh, yes. Yes. - All five of them. - Yeah. - In the months after Joy stopped working for the family, she couldn't stop thinking about the abuse the kids experienced every day.

So finally, in August of 2014, with the help of a friend, she decided to call DSS to report it. I was like, I feel like if I make that call to DSS, there's nothing going to be done. And she said, well, we're going to make this call together. And I said, OK. And that's the second one they did. They did nothing.

In late August 2014, the DSS paid the Jones residents a 12th visit. Except this time, the events that unfolded during it and the consequences afterward would be different. The caseworker that day sadly noted that one of the children's eyes had a fresh, bloody cut on it. When questioned about his child's injury, Timothy brushed it off as an accident, saying,

saying his child accidentally bumped into a doorknob earlier in the day. On this visit to the Jones household, however, the signs of abuse and neglect were distinctly more noticeable than they had ever been before. The house was disgusting. There were dishes piled up, cockroaches everywhere, and the kids looked starved, feeble, and sick.

There were bruise patterns seen all across their small bodies which suggested violent abuse. However, Timothy, cleverly downplaying the situation, blamed the bruises and neglect on the whistleblower babysitter, who had lost her well-paying job thanks to him. But once again, even though the abuse at the Jones household seemed to be reaching a fever pitch, nothing was done about it by the DSS.

because despite the disturbing observations made by the caseworkers that day, the report concluded that although Timothy seemed to be cracking under the pressure of managing a household of five kids by himself, the children at least appeared to be hygienically maintained and appropriately dressed.

So sadly, nothing was done yet again. And to make matters worse, Timothy was also emotionally abusing his children. Even though their mom saw them every chance she could, he would tell them that their mother didn't love them anymore. Secretly, Timothy was angry that Amber remarried, and he wanted to punish her for it. He would even send her videos of the kids crying and say things like, "Look at what you're doing to your children."

Him sending these, it was almost tormenting. It was like your kids are crying for you and you still won't come back. Why are you making them sit down and record themselves crying like this? Because you're tormenting them too. And just stop.

It was tit for tat, back and forth like that constantly. And it was very draining. Tim tried to claim that Amber wasn't making an effort to see her children anymore, which just wasn't the case. Amber admitted that she did miss maybe two visits, but she saw her kids every chance she could. I didn't miss my visits with my children. I missed maybe two at the end.

but I was very adamant about seeing my kids and when I had the chance I went to see my kids because Lord knows I didn't get to see them often. The pictures that you guys saw with Tim holding Gabe, I took those and it was last time I saw my children alive physically. I don't know how anybody else sees them but to me Tim was smiling, Gabriel was smiling, all the kids were smiling, there was nothing

I thought we were at a point where we were co-parenting just fine. My fondest last memory of my son Natan was him running to me across Tim had just parked in the parking space at Chick-fil-A. And my son got out of the car and he had a little checkered shirt, which I still have to this day. I can't bring myself to wash because it still smells like him.

But he had his arms open and he just took off in the parking lot saying, Mommy. And I said, whoa, son, you're going to get hit by a car. The tight hug that my son gave me just, I try to hold on to that because if they died thinking that I didn't want them or love them, it's going to kill me. Which brings us to August 28, 2014.

That afternoon, Timothy picked up his three oldest children, Mira, Elias, and Natan from Saks Gotha Elementary School. Then after that, he picked up his two youngest, Gabriel and Elaine, from their babysitter.

Timothy, for whatever reason, was angry that day. After picking his kids up, he made a stop at Walmart, where he violently ripped his kids from the car. It's unclear exactly what he did when forcing them out of the car, but it was so violent, bystanders actually called the police to report it. However, they wouldn't get there in enough time to do anything about it.

After Walmart, Timothy took his children home and the kids spent the next hour playing and keeping to themselves. Now, his son Natan was 6 years old and like any 6 year old, he was a curious little boy and while he was by himself that evening, probably by putting something inside of it, which is very dangerous.

Eventually, his father Timothy sees the blown outlet and he blows up in a rage. "Why would you do this?" he angrily asks his six-year-old son. But Natan won't give him an answer. Timothy continues to ask him, but he's clearly terrified of what his father will do if he tells him the truth. So all that comes out of his mouth is "I'm sorry."

But this only makes Timothy more mad. He wants answers. And you know, this could easily be a teaching moment for his son. Timothy could talk to Natan about the dangers of electricity and why he can't do that. But that's not what is going through his mind. Instead, Timothy thought that Natan was purposefully trying to hurt himself

so that he could go live with his mother. You see, both Mira and Natan had been making comments about how they missed their mom. And in Timothy's eyes, this was all a part of their plan. So with Natan not telling his dad the truth, Timothy decides that he's going to punish the truth out of him.

And it's here where he starts making his six-year-old do grueling exercises, including push-ups, squats, and running laps. And there were absolutely no breaks. As soon as Natan finished one lap, Timothy would immediately make him run another, then another, then another.

And after a while, the six-year-old's body began to tire from exhaustion. And when he couldn't run anymore, his father started beating him with a belt. At the end of it all, Natan had collapsed on the floor and he was begging his father to stop. - In the heat of the moment, Timothy does stop, but only to call his children's mother, Amber.

The call came in at 7:12 PM, and as soon as she picked up, she could hear her other children wailing in the background. They had clearly witnessed their father's punishment and were terrified.

After a few seconds, Natan got on the phone and he was gasping for breath, and he kept apologizing about blowing this electrical outlet. Amber was confused. She tried to ask her son what was going on, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Eventually, Timothy gets on the phone, but soon afterwards, he hangs up. Amber thought it was strange, but she figured she would call them later to find out exactly what was going on.

However, little did she know, this would be the very last time she would ever hear her children's voices. After getting off the phone with their mother, Timothy sends Natan to his bedroom with no food or water. Like we mentioned earlier, Timothy barely ever fed his children, so these grueling exercises were probably a lot more difficult, considering he didn't have food in his system. And shortly after he walked into that bedroom, Natan would pass away.

Now, it should be noted that Natan's official cause of death is a little unclear, but it's widely believed that he died from a lethal combination of dehydration and exhaustion. Later that night, Timothy would finally go into Natan's bedroom to find him lifeless on his bed. And from here, his mind started spiraling. He knew that once word got out that Natan had died, he would go to prison.

He even ran over to his computer and googled a video of a prison gang rape, likely because he figured that is what will happen to him once he goes to jail. But after watching this, Timothy Jones makes the horrifying decision to murder the rest of his children. But first, he needs some cigarettes. Now Timothy knew he couldn't go to the store without his oldest daughter Mira running to get help.

So, he takes her with him, leaving seven-year-old Elias with his dead brother and two younger siblings. After purchasing the cigarettes, Timothy smokes one. Then once he's finished, he approaches seven-year-old Elias. And it seems as though Elias knew exactly what was going on. Because as his dad wrapped his hands around his neck, he yelled out, "Dad, take me with you."

In a desperate plea, Elias tries to convince his dad that he's on his side. "Take me with you, Dad." But instead, Timothy squeezes his neck so hard he breaks his hyoid bone. And for three to five minutes, he holds his hands around his son's throat until he's dead. Meanwhile, Mira is standing in the background, watching in horror as her brother dies.

Once Timothy is finished, eight-year-old Mira knows that she's next and begins running through the house screaming, "No, Daddy, I love you. No." All of these surviving kids are now screaming, crying, scared of their father. But he eventually catches up to Mira in an elastic effort

She tells her dad over and over that she loves him, but instead of giving her mercy, he wraps his hands around her throat and kills her. Then he turns to his other children, two-year-old Gabriel and one-year-old Elaine. Timothy attempted to strangle them with his hands, but he quickly discovered that his hands were too big and their necks too small.

So it's here where he grabs a belt and he uses that to kill them. - By the end of that night, all five of his children were dead and Timothy begins planning out his next move.

He knew that the kids' babysitter would surely ask questions about where they were, so he left her a deceptive message stating that the family had suddenly decided to go out of state and that he wouldn't need her services in the coming days. Then, from here, he continued with these eerie online searches. Timothy looked up campgrounds, reservations, how to dispose of a body, and countries that don't extradite criminals. Slowly but surely, Timothy was creating a plan so that he could get away with this.

After his cryptic online searches, he carefully began to wrap his children up in trash bags. Then he places each of their bodies in his Cadillac Escalade and takes off down the road. - Timothy would later admit that he didn't even know where he was going. He just aimlessly drove around. However, at one point, he decided that he would go to Las Vegas.

But first, he had to dispose of his children's bodies. For days, Timothy drove through multiple states, including South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, with his five kids dead in the backseat.

He had placed a large sheet over them, so it wouldn't be obvious if someone looked in his vehicle. But he didn't account for the smell. As each day passed, the smell of decomposition grew stronger and stronger. Timothy said he bought a ton of air fresheners to try and cover up the smell, but they were no use. So it's here where he decided to stop at a Walmart.

CCTV footage shows him buying saws, dust masks, goggles, muriatic acid, and a large five-gallon plastic bucket.

Back at home, the kids' mother, Amber, had grown worried. She hadn't heard from Timothy or any of the kids for days now, and on September 3rd, 2014, after Timothy and the kids missed one of their scheduled visits at a Chick-fil-A, she contacted the authorities. However, they would quickly learn that their home was empty and that none of the kids had made it to school, and unfortunately, it was too late.

The children were already long gone and Timothy was on his way to Alabama with their dead bodies in the back of his car. Timothy ends up in Camden, Alabama, off a rural dirt road. He pulls his car over, looks around, and he realizes that this is the spot where he is going to dump their bodies. It had been over a week since he had murdered his children.

and the smell in the car was unbearable. So one by one, he pulls them out, places them on the ground, and it's here where he attempts to dismember them. And he starts with Natan, the son who, in his mind, started all of this. By this point, the six-year-old is so badly decomposed, the skin on his leg was falling off.

But nonetheless, Timothy grabs his saw and begins to saw at his leg. However, he would later say that as he started, he had to stop. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Now, there was also some evidence that he tried to dissolve some of his children in that muriatic acid, but it wouldn't work. So he finally gives up altogether. Instead of trying to dismember his kids, Timothy just carries them each into the woods.

and piles their bodies on top of one another. If you were to have passed the pile of trash bags, you might not even think twice about it, but the smell would give it away. Timothy knew this, but he didn't seem to care. All he was worried about at this moment was getting out of there and making his way to Vegas. So with that, he gets in his car and leaves his five kids behind in the woods.

But shortly after, on September 6th, Timothy Jones' plan would come crumbling down. That night, after driving for hours, he ended up in Smith County, Mississippi. He said he pulled his car over on the side of the road to gather his thoughts and smoke a little synthetic marijuana. But as he went to leave, he realized his car was stuck in the mud. Soon enough, Officer Charles Johnson would pull up behind him.

and there was some suspicion that the driver was under the influence, which he was. Officer Johnson noticed that Timothy had red glassy eyes and slurred speech. Then, after running his plates, he discovered that the driver and his five children had been reported missing out of South Carolina. So it's here where they put Timothy in their patrol car and search his Cadillac.

and they were not prepared for what they were about to find. In addition to drug-related paraphernalia, synthetic cannabis, bleach, muriatic acid, and charcoal fluid, Officer Johnson found a list in which Timothy had written out a set of plans. In part, it read, "Find a campsite, get rid of the bodies, turn the bones into dust."

Horrified, Officer Johnson then looked in the boot of Timothy's car, and there he discovered blood-soaked clothing, hundreds of squirming maggots, a piece of a child's scalp, and the distinctive nauseating smell of death.

The officer then approached Timothy and asked where his five kids were. To which Timothy said, "I don't have any kids." The officer stepped away for a few more minutes and when they returned, Timothy told them that he had three kids. Prosecutors would later say that he said this because he had already disowned Natan and Mira, the two that wanted to go live with their mother. But regardless of what Timothy said, these officers knew that Timothy Jones' children were dead.

Based on the evidence in the backseat, they were sure of this. So with that, they placed him under arrest and bring him back to the station for questioning. And immediately, Timothy Jones begins to come clean. From here, the detectives want to know what started all of this, and Timothy walks them through the night of August 28th, 2014.

I questioned a ton about the four outlets that he blew. After a series of not getting any favorable responses out of him, I tried to use more harsh measures to just try to get out of him what was going on because I didn't know what he was doing. I seen four destroyed outlets. Is it for me, him? Was he curious? I just didn't know what was going on. I was trying to make sense of it. I think I worked him too hard or maybe it was a combination of the electricity. I know electricity takes electrolytes out of your body. Something happened. It was out of the ordinary and he wouldn't tell me.

If I would have known it, I would have gotten medical help and whatnot, but I don't know what he did and he didn't tell me. I didn't see any burn marks on his body, so that's why I didn't rush him to the hospital. So after the fact, he was deceased. And then what happened to him? How did he get deceased? What did you do? I sent him to bed after I worked him real hard because he wouldn't answer me. And what do you mean by working him too hard? I just PT'd his ass until he couldn't handle it. I cracked him more than...

but a couple times to get something out of him to tell me what was he doing. Right. What's his motive? And when you say PT, what are we talking about? Squats and push-ups. Squats, push-ups. How long were you having him PT? I'm going to PT like an hour. Like I said, it's nothing out of the ordinary.

Those kids would do insanity with me. We have fun doing it. And where did he go from, you're doing this, where in the house? Where are you PTing? I was in the living room and then I finally got tired of it and sent him to bed. Okay. I sent him to bed. You're not telling the truth. I can't help you. Go to bed, man. You're wasting everybody's time. And then you find out what? I come back and find out that he's deceased. And when I find out he's deceased, then the shit hits the fan. How does the shit hit the fan, Tim?

The voices start going off and then here comes the paranoia. Oh shit. What just happened? What just happened? This ain't gonna go I can't call the blood. I got all these voices running through my head now. And then what happens to him? I followed suit with the other four. And how did you kill them Tim? With my hands. With your hands? Can you describe what you mean by with your hands? Around their neck. Around their neck? Who is next?

I'm just gonna put the order so I don't have to go into too much detail. Just tell us the order. Natan, Mira, Elias, Gabriel, wait, wait, wait. Natan, Elias, Mira, Gabriel, Elias. Timothy told the detectives that after he found Natan dead, the paranoid voices in his head started telling him to kill his other children and then cover his tracks.

At that point I was just running on fear and I wasn't thinking. Any normal person would have said, "Let me call the police and turn myself in." Okay. I took the coward route and started following those voices in my head which led me down such a nice path I'm on today. You're just driving around, you have the bodies in the car, and where are you going at that time? Nowhere, I guess, because in my mind I'm just running. I have nowhere to go.

Because you didn't plan this. I didn't plan this. No, it's like a spontaneous. This is spontaneous and I just fucked up my whole life. All I'm saying from that Thursday though, the 28th, and you say after all this happens, you place their bodies in the vehicle. Yes. Between then and the time you come in contact with the officer, and that would be Friday on September 5th. So we have over a week's time that has passed by. Your children are still in the vehicle.

From here, he tells the officers about his plan to dismember his children. You told me earlier they were, you had them covered up in some sheets or blankets. Yeah, I threw blankets in a shitload of air freshener. So you have, you have their bodies there. You go and you purchase what? Walk me through what you're purchasing here. Dusk mask. Some goggles and some hand saws. Some jab saw, it says.

I had a multi-saw. Multi-saw. What's this here? Some muriatic acid. And what's this here? I had a five gallon pail. Alright. Were you purchasing this stuff at that time because you initially thought you might be able to go through with this? Partially and then I couldn't bring myself. You just couldn't do it? I don't know what my original plan was. I had so many thoughts going through my mind. What were some of them? Because you wrote some notes and you bought some thoughts. I had a hundred different thoughts about what I could do. Okay.

I don't want to sit and incriminate myself but I had a bunch of different things. We won over this but part of your plan was to do what? The bodies. I think originally I intended to go do all that stuff that I wrote down on the paper but then I couldn't bring myself to it. Right. What was it? To do stuff to get rid of the corpse. Do you remember what step one was?

or something like that. I was gonna cut them up. I was gonna do all kinds of stuff. Did you write down that you were gonna burn the bodies? I think I was gonna burn them, yeah. And you were going to, what was step two? Boil them, or I forget what it was. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I don't remember everything. What is day one? Burn up bodies. What's day two? Saw down bones. What's day three? MB smiley face is up.

dissolving this card. Okay, so your initial plan was to do these things with their bodies? Well, it was one of them. I told you there's other stuff. That just happened to be the one that's materialized. I had a million bucks going for my life. Okay. We had asked, because you purchased the saws and everything, had you used any of the saws on your children? I tried to start on that time, and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I began to try to saw a leg, and I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I said, "Oh, I can't do that." How far did you get?

And here's Tim's reasoning as to why he started with Natan. So after attempting to cut his son's leg off...

Timothy decided to give up on the dismemberment and just leave their bodies there in the woods. What do you do then? Do you try to hide the bags at all? I just put them off to the side. I knew there was no hiding bags. There ain't no hiding this. I'm gonna get caught. This is just a better time. I'm buying myself time. I'm gonna get caught. I just drove. Drove.

Aimlessly. And then I, well, I say aimlessly. I was on an aimless path toward Las Vegas. That's why I was doing this. Timothy also says he ate Scooby Snacks, a synthetic form of marijuana, and he tells the detectives what the drugs do for him.

They calm the voices down inside my head to let me be at peace and not act on them. They kind of give you the same high as what drug? I think you're talking about the tea. It's like marijuana in the sense that it gives you a high, but it's not the high that I'm looking for. It's the effect of quieting this. It's medication. I know that sounds stupid as hell, but it is. That's why I need to see a doctor.

Now, at this point, the detectives want to know if Timothy has left anything out. And you're telling me the four children, four of them, we're going to find out that they were suffocated. Now, you're grabbing your hands, you're putting them around your throat. That's what you did?

Yeah. Okay, that's how you suffocated them? Did you put a pillow over that? No. No, alright. If you could just say out loud what you're doing. I used my hands to suffocate my kids. Is there anything else we need to know, Tim, about what happened to them? Anything you may have intended to do to them afterward? Who do you remember using the belt on? The babies. And the babies? Who were the babies, Tim? Pardon? Gabriel and Elaine, is that correct? Were they older children? Did they put up a fight?

I mean, what person's not? Right. You told us earlier that Eli said something to you before you killed him. What did he say to you? Take me with, Dad. What do you think Eli meant when he said that? I think he just wanted to go where I was. He knew Natan was gone. Mm-hmm.

I don't know exactly what he meant by that. I mean, I don't know where he thought I was going. I didn't even know where I was going at that time. This is just happening. It's like my mind. I don't know what to do now. Did any of the other children say anything before you killed them? Gabriel said, I love you.

Natan was an accident. He was an accident. That was really an accident. I was just trying to find out what was going on. If you look at that picture of me holding my little son, it's a picture of me with the older one trying to say, son, what's going on? And he went to tell me, and I don't know if he was messing with the stuff, and the PT took him over the edge. Natan was an accident, but you murdered the other four children. Yes. Okay. Why did you do that? We talked about this earlier. The voices started kicking in and said, you better do something. You're fucking up, Tim. What kind of...

people do you think the children were when you committed the crime? I understand this is a weird question for what we're talking about, but we had to ask it earlier too. I think they were conspiring. They were conspiring against you? It definitely seems to make the most sense to me. I mean, why else would somebody go do something like that and not tell me what he's doing? And that part is just so infuriating to me. Natan is a child, six years old,

The reason he wasn't telling his dad why he did it is because he probably doesn't know why. He was likely just curious. And when children are caught doing something they aren't supposed to be doing, their first thought isn't "let me tell the truth and get in a bunch of trouble."

Timothy is trying to claim that his 6-year-old son was conspiring against him. But any normal person can realize that Natan was just being an average 6-year-old little boy. At that point in time, I didn't care because I saw myself as a damn target. And I saw him as having a gun in his hand, if you will. I know he was a kid, but that's how I saw it like shit. When he told me what he said...

all kinds of stuff started triggering and then I worked harder to get out of them to try to see if maybe it puts it back together and then I realized that this he's not doing this per se to

He's not telling me what's going on because it appears he's got something intended for me and he doesn't want me to know that it's right for me. Because normally they're pretty apt to tell me the truth and if they don't, I give them a couple squats and a push-up and they spit it out. He ain't doing that, which means there's some motive that he does not want me to know. Is that why you pushed him so hard? Yes, I tried pushing more. Give me a little more pressure and maybe he'll just tell me what's going on.

That's always worked before. And so the fact that it didn't work this time tells me that there was something that he didn't want me to know. He went to bed and he was tired. He went to bed and he just never woke up. And then I came back to check on him and he wasn't breathing. I said, oh, shit. What have I done? My kid's dead in my hand. They're going to think I murdered him. I just BT'd him. He's fucking with the owl. I don't know what happened to him.

And then all sorts of stuff starts tricking in my head and that's like the other four become a victim. So you knew that what you were doing to the children was going to harm and protect their lives? I knew that what I was going to do was to protect myself. Okay. I know that sounds fucking pathetic. When you did this crime, did you know it was wrong? At the time, I didn't think any of it was wrong. It happened in this fucking happenstance and let me finish it up now. Okay. When you did the crime, did you know it was against the law?

After everything we've gone over, what is it you'd like to say about your actions? God, I'm sorry. Children, I love you. I hope I see you again someday if I'm worthy to. I'm sorry.

On September 9th, 2014, officers in Alabama finally found the bodies of the five children. They were deep in the woods off a rural road. And since it was September in Alabama, it was blistering hot outside. The officers could tell before they even saw the bags that they were close. All they had to do was follow the smell.

They also noticed that once you stepped foot into that forest, all you could hear was the sound of bugs. Why would any father want to leave their children out here in the wilderness? When the kids' bodies were finally discovered, they were unrecognizable. Not only were they in advanced stages of decomposition, but it was also clear that wildlife had scavenged on their bodies.

Following this, Timothy Jones was extradited back to South Carolina, where he was facing five counts of murder. And the state didn't take his alleged crimes lightly. They were fighting tooth and nail to ensure he paid the ultimate price, the death penalty.

During his trial, Timothy pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that the voices in his head told him to kill his children. They also brought in several experts to try to support this, but the prosecution brought in their own experts, who claimed that Timothy knew exactly what he was doing when he murdered and disposed of his children. That's why he went through all of the work to cover up his crime.

The prosecution also claimed that Timothy killed his children to punish his ex-wife, Amber. That's why he called her on the night of the murders. Interestingly enough, Timothy also called his parents while he was in jail awaiting trial. And on that phone call, he said that Amber was to blame for his children's death, saying that if she just would have been around, instead of having sex with her new man, none of this would ever have happened. Amber would be a big part of Timothy's trial, and she even took the stand to talk about her kids and how special they were.

Here's what she said about her son, Natan. He was my tater tot. I called him tater because he just couldn't catch up with his older siblings in height. He was very small. Next, Amber told the court that she wrote her kids a letter after she and Tim had separated. Because I knew my kids were hurting over us not being together anymore and...

I felt as though it was my place to apologize for breaking their hearts, for their broken home, but for all, and to also let them know how proud I am of them. My kids knew I loved them. She then reads the letter she wrote for her daughter, Mira. Mira, my sweet, sweet daughter, I know that your heart feels heavy and that you feel really sad sometimes.

I want to reassure you sweetheart that you along with your brothers and sister mean everything to me. You kids are my world and mommy and daddy were very blessed to have you. Oh god. I'm sorry. It's okay. Oh god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

My babies, my babies. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

That is seriously one of the worst things I've ever heard. To hear the screams of a mother grieving over her dying children is heartbreaking. I actually came across that clip last year and that's what made me want to tell this story. Another very emotional part of the trial came when prosecutor Rick Hubbard showed the jury one of the children's favorite toys.

It was a Woody doll from the movie Toy Story, and it was Natan's pride and joy. He loved that movie, but he was obsessed with Woody. Sadly, as the jury passed the toy around, they couldn't help but notice that it had been shredded to pieces. According to the prosecution, Timothy had cut it up to punish his son Natan, another example of his horrific abuse.

At some point, as it was being passed around the jury, the doll's pre-recorded voice accidentally activated, and in that quiet courtroom, everyone could hear it say, Some of the jurors flinched, as they weren't expecting the doll to make any sounds. Many would later say that it was as if Natan was sending them a message from beyond the grave. Boy, am I glad to see you.

It was now in their hands to decide Timothy Jones' fate.

Luckily, the jury would find him guilty on all five counts of murder. Now, the only question was, what would his punishment be? The prosecution wanted death. During the sentencing phase of the trial, his defense team decided to play the pre-recorded testimony of Cynthia Turner, Timothy's mother. They believed it would help paint a picture of the mental illness that ran in his family. In the recording that was played, it was very clear that Cynthia Turner suffered from a major detachment from reality.

When questioned about her own personal history, she couldn't even recall basic facts, like who her family members were. She also said she didn't remember giving birth to any of her kids. And the goal of the defense was to show the jury her schizophrenia diagnosis and somehow have it relate back to Timothy and his mental state. The defense desperately tried to spare their client's life by painting Timothy out to be a man from a dysfunctional family, a family that came from mental illness, domestic violence, infidelity, substance abuse, and religious extremism.

And then, amidst all this chaos, came the debate over the photos. You see, the prosecution wanted the jury to see just what Timothy did to his children, but the defense argued that these images, described as absolutely horrific and nightmarish, would cause the jury to be prejudiced towards Timothy.

But the judge ultimately allowed most of the photos to be shown in court. And according to the jury, they were absolutely horrifying. They showed the children in the trash bags, their bodies twisted and contorted, laden with hundreds of maggots. Shockingly for some of the children, they barely even had any skin left. And it was clear that parts of their bodies had been consumed by animals. To this day, many of the jurors still claim they'll never be able to forget those days spent in court.

During this sentencing phase, the children's mother, Amber Kaiser, also took the stand. I'm really sorry that everybody has to sit here for this. I don't think anybody saw this coming. And I know between myself and members of the Jones family themselves, I know if anybody had seen anything that any of us, any one of us, would have done something about it. I pray for Tim all the time.

But she shocked everyone with her testimony. When asked if she wanted Timothy put to death, this is what she said.

I personally, myself, can't bring myself to want anybody to die. So it's a really hard... I hear what my kids went through, I'm just being honest. I hear what my kids went through and what they endured. Sorry. And as a mother, if I could personally rip his face off, I would. That's the mom in me. That's the mama bear in me, wanting to just make him feel everything they felt. They then asked...

Do you want mercy for Tim? I do. When I don't say it lightly, he did not show my children mercy by any means. But my kids loved him. And if I'm speaking on behalf of my kids and not myself, that's what I would have to say. I'm not here for me. The mom in me just wants him to feel everything that I feel that my kids felt.

Nothing justifies, nothing justifies what you've done. There's nothing you could possibly say that would justify what you've done to my niece. But they loved you. I loved you. I hope for mercy for you. I pray for you often. And I say that without excusing what he's done. I say that wholeheartedly from the depths of my soul. I don't want anyone to feel any more love.

There's been so much loss. A lot of loss. I need the Jones family to know that at the end, this is not my choice. This is not my choice. And I respect whatever choice you make.

In a desperate plea to show the jury the monster this man was, the prosecution talked about each of the children. They mentioned that for a school project, 8-year-old Mira had written, "I will be a fantastic daughter. I will be a helpful sister. I will be a super student. Every day I will do my work and make good grades. When I grow up, I will want to be a nurse."

For their seven-year-old son Elias, the prosecution talked about how his teachers said that if a student in their class didn't have a friend, Eli would go over and befriend them. They said that if one of the kids was feeling left out, she didn't even have to ask anyone to go over and be kind to them. Eli was already on his way over to do that. Eli also drew a picture of him and his brother Natan playing. In the picture, Natan is handing him a toy, and there are little bubbles over the brothers that read, "Can I have this?" To which the other brother says, "Yes."

It then says, "I love Tan. He gives me things to play with. He gives me stuff that I want. God, thank you for my brother. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You did wonderful, God, for making my brother. I love you, God." The prosecution said that Gabriel, who was only two years old, loved playing with his older siblings, and Elaine, who was one, had the sweetest little smile you'd ever see. Then the prosecution finished with this: "My question is,

Isn't he the worst of the worst? Tim Jones, a man who brutally murdered his five children. Who is that man? He is the worst of the worst. Natan, the inquisitive child, interested in electronics. Do you think he's got some of his father's curiosity? Probably hears about electricity with computers, circuit boards, how things work. It's a teachable moment.

But not for that man. It's a criminal investigation, interrogation. He brutally makes this child do these exercises that dad couldn't do. Dad washed out. He wanted to be in the Navy SEALs, please. He couldn't make it through basic training. He couldn't even pass screening to get in. But, oh, my kids? I expect more of them. It's okay if I fail. And the ton paid heavily. Mama gets on the phone.

And first words out of his mouth, mommy, mommy, I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to do it. That's his little cry for help. Mommy, help me. Save me. And she tries to step in. She's calm. She knows how to talk to this man when he gets robbed. He was hearing nothing because when he heard his little boy confess to his mother, it's all over.

Dad's made a decision. He's done what you folks are going to have to do. He deliberated. I'm a one-man jury, and I have before me life and death. He sentenced his kids to death. And as a judge, the sole judge in that house, he entered that decree, and then he became the executioner. And with that, the jury would sentence Timothy Jones to death.

After the jury decided his fate, they reportedly remained in the jury chamber for 40 minutes, just trying to gather themselves after this horrible trial. Some jurors described the trial as being one of the toughest things they ever had to do in their entire lives. And I'm sure they're still reliving some of those moments to this very day, as is everyone who was involved in this horrific case.

But as for Timothy Jones, he is currently awaiting execution on death row in South Carolina. He tried to appeal his case in 2021, but luckily he was not successful. And as of this moment, he is still set to be executed. And I'm not the biggest fan of the death penalty, but for this case, I think it's appropriate. However, the punishment does not even come close to matching the crime.

Timothy Jones will die a painless death. He will fall asleep and never wake up again. When his children were not shown that kind of mercy,

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Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Currently, I am on a road trip on the East Coast filming for my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files. And what's interesting is that this episode was actually recorded, at least on my end, from one of the bedrooms in the Lizzie Borden murder house.

Now, if y'all remember the Lizzie Borden case, we did a whole podcast in it back in the day. I actually recorded my parts of the podcast in the room where Lizzie Borden's stepmother was murdered. I'm actually looking at the place where her body was laying right now while I'm speaking. But I want to give a few shout outs here. If you want more bonus content, if you love Murder in America, you love our show, you want your name to be read at the end of our

episodes like we're going to start doing again next week, sign up for our Patreon. Just head to patreon.com and type in Murder in America. For just $5 a month, you get every single episode early and ad-free. For $10 a month, you get two full-length bonus episodes of the show, plus every episode early and ad-free. And for $20 a month, you get four full-length bonus episodes of Murder in America, plus that early and ad-free access to every single episode of the show. And

It is absolutely crazy how many episodes we have on there now. So if you love the show, please consider becoming a patron. It helps us so much. You can also follow us at Murder in America. We're getting close to 100,000 followers on Instagram. So go help us follow. We are getting so close to 100,000 followers on there. So please go over and give us a follow. And also, if you love our show, please give us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. Just type in Murder in America if you have an iPhone and leave us that five-star review.

Anyways, guys, thank you so much for tuning in this week. We love you guys so much. And we'll catch you next week. Well, well, well, a visitor. Make yourself at home and feel free to explore my establishment. Each visit to my shop will unleash a sordid tale about the many relics curated within. Every one darker than the next, I'm afraid.

Welcome to the antiquarium of sinister happenings and odd goings on. I can smell your intestines. I'm scaring her, aren't I? If you are uncomfortable with the supernatural, the occult, or exploring other realms, I encourage you to stop listening to this immediately. Terrible things happen when we talk about him too much. Tick! Tick!

And assume zero liability as per store policy. No exception. Thank you, and have a great day. Find the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings online at bloody.fm and wherever you do come home to us.

What's up everybody, I'm Prince, also known as Head Knight. I am one of the hosts of Nightlight, a horror movie podcast, that's Night with a K by the way, on Bloody FM via Bloody Disgusting. Every week we cover horror films based on a monthly thematic schedule. We've covered and celebrated black horror, found footage, and psychological horror just to name a few. We discuss these films to uncover the ultimate question, why horror?

We go extremely deep with the films in discussion. For us to accomplish this, we break down each film, scene by scene, spoiling literally everything. You can find Nightlight, a horror movie podcast, every Friday on your favorite podcast service. And remember, everybody, don't forget your nightlight.

Welcome to Bloody FM's The Hotel, a horror podcast with new episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month. Each night a guest dies a horrifying and fantastic death in a hotel, that's me, who assumes the shape of anything from a five-star resort down to a roadside roach motel. Listen on the 1st and 15th of every month on Bloody Disgusting's Bloody FM network, wherever you listen to podcasts.