Iowa man sentenced to 3 life terms for killing his family

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A judge on Friday sentenced an Iowa man convicted of killing his parents and sister to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Judge Lars Anderson sentenced Alexander Ken Jackson, 22, after his conviction in January of three counts of first-degree murder in the June 15, 2021, deaths of his father Jan Jackson, 61; mother Melissa Jackson, 68; and sister Sabrina Jackson, 19, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Officers found them dead from multiple gunshots after Alexander Jackson called 911 and claimed there was an intruder at their Cedar Rapids home who had shot him and his father.

Alexander Jackson was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound to his foot that prosecutors argued was self-inflicted. Police later charged him with the killings.

Prosecutors claimed that Jackson shot his family after his father told him to get a job or move out of the house. At the time, Alexander Jackson had $30 in his bank account.

Jackson declined to make a statement at the hearing and didn’t make any visible reaction at the sentencing.

According to court documents, if Jackson had not been convicted, he would have inherited his parents’ estate valued at more than $2 million. Because of the conviction, those assets will go to other relatives.