Youth Crime
Thanks to some newly found evidence, David Allen Jones, 39, has been charged in the death of Robin Gilbert, 14, whose body was found in Reading, Mass., in 1975. But because Jones was only 16 at the time of the murder, Massachusetts law requires he be charged as a juvenile. “It’s a very strange case,” confirms prosecutor Rick Grundy, who will petition for the case to be transferred to adult court. If that succeeds, Jones will face life in prison. Meanwhile, the balding Jones, standing in a juvenile court, has pleaded innocent to the crime he is charged with: juvenile delinquency. (RC/AP) ...Reform school ought to set the punk straight.Author’s Note: It took several years to get the case transferred out of juvenile court, and Jones was found guilty of manslaughter in 2004. Jones had strangled the girl, and left her body on a golf course. Apparently the “newly found evidence” was his own mother’s diary, which was found when she died, but it’s unclear what it said that led to the conviction. On November 1, 2004, Jones was sentenced to 19–20 years in prison, but with time served while awaiting trial, he was expected to be released within 4-1/2 years.
Original Publication Date: 05 July 1998
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 5.
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 5.
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