MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (Scripps News Group) — A former Eastern Kentucky University lecturer entered an Alford plea in connection with his wife’s 2019 death, avoiding a murder trial that was set to begin next week.
Glenn Jackson entered a plea to manslaughter charges on Wednesday in the death of his wife, Ella Jackson, who disappeared from Richmond in October 2019. The plea came more than six years after Ella Jackson vanished while walking her dog at a park near her home.
Ella Jackson (L) and Glenn Jackson (R). (Scripps News Group)
Jackson didn’t admit to killing his 47-year-old wife but acknowledged there could be sufficient evidence to convict him if the case had gone to a murder trial. He also pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Jackson could face a maximum of 14 years in prison. However, with credit for time served on house arrest, he could be released in less than eight years.
The plea deal has been difficult for Ella Jackson’s ex-husband, Jason Hans, who has been raising Glenn and Ella’s young son.
“He will end up having done about 40% of his sentence sitting at his victim’s house, which is incredibly frustrating,” Hans said.
When Ella Jackson vanished, Richmond police found it odd that her purse, cell phone, and other items were left in her car and at her home. Relatives were suspicious from the start, saying she would never abandon her then 5-year-old son, despite her husband claiming she left on her own.
Six months later, in April 2020, Jackson was charged with murder, abuse of corpse and tampering with physical evidence. A week after his arrest, authorities found Ella’s partial skeletal remains in a rural, wooded area of Pulaski County near property Jackson owned.
In court, prosecutors said the marriage was troubled and violent, with Ella Jackson’s family worried about her safety before she disappeared. How she died remains unknown.
“Her death was ruled a homicide by undetermined means, although she did have a fracture to her skull,” Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Smith said.
Hans said Jackson is the only person who knows what happened to his ex-wife.
“There’s some evidence that he confessed to one of his best friends in December of 2019. He’s denied it ever since then,” Hans said.
While Hans appreciates the prosecution’s work on the case, he says the outcome is bittersweet and believes true justice is proactive, not reactive.
“Justice will be protecting women and children before they’re harmed, not punishing people years after they’re harmed,” Hans said.
Jackson will be formally sentenced in March and will remain on house arrest until then.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Group of Lexington.
