Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Former Laneburg Resident's Killer Sentenced

The killer of a former Laneburg resident has been sentenced to death.

Jack Jones Jr. of Bald Knob, had the death sentence handed down by a Searcy jury Wednesday, April 17 for the 1995 murder of Mary Phillips, who lived in Bradford at the time.

Jones was also given a life sentence for raping Phillips and 30 years, along with a $15,000 fine, for the attempted murder of her 11-year-old daughter.

It took the four man, eight woman jury about three hours to decide Jones' fate.

When the verdict was read, none of Phillips' family or friends showed any emotion.

Phillips worked at Miller's Automated Bookkeeping and Tax Service.

June 6, 1995 began as a normal day as she went to work. Her daughter, Lacey, was dropped off at the office around 2:30 that afternoon by an older sister.

She didn't get home at her usual time. Her son, Jesse, called the Balk Knob Police Department around 1 a.m.

Her body was found around 4 a.m. by officers with the Arkansas State Police.

Jones' original intent reportedly was to rob the business.

However, when he arrived, he tied the young girl to a chair in a bathroom, then raped, beat and choked her mother in a room next to the restroom.

Jones also severely beat the girl, who testified against him at the trial. She suffered head injuries and had been left at the scene for dead.

In a television interview shortly after Jones was arrested, he admitted his guilt in the murder and rape. He alleged his own wife had been raped and the police did nothing about it.

He said they were told something bad was going to happen because they didn't do their jobs.

Once the sentence was passed, Jones told the court he was not surprised at the death penalty.

He said his heart went out to the Phillips family and hoped, in time, their wounds would heal. Jones called Lacey "the greatest little girl" he'd ever met.

However, Jones has the right to appeal the sentence. Appeals can delay the execution indefinitely.