Iowa man found guilty of fatally shooting parents, sister, and claiming it was a home intruder

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (TCD) -- A 22-year-old man was recently found guilty of fatally shooting his parents and his 19-year-old sister in 2021 and staging it as a home invasion.

On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at around 8:23 a.m., Cedar Rapids Police officers responded to a home on the 4400 block of Oak Leaf Court NE to a report of a shooting. There, officers and first-responders reportedly located four victims suffering from gunshot wounds.

Three of those victims, Jan Jackson, 61, Melissa Jackson, 68, and Sabrina Jackson, were pronounced dead at the scene. The fourth victim, Alexander Jackson, was reportedly transported to the hospital for a gunshot wound to the foot. Officers located each of the victims in different rooms within the house.

At the scene, police recovered a .22-caliber Browning semiautomatic rifle from the house believed to be used in the fatal shooting.

Alexander Jackson was reportedly the one who called police, reporting that an intruder broke into their home and started shooting. He told police the sound of gunfire woke him up, and he was shot in the foot as he tried to fight off the intruder. When investigators searched the home, there was reportedly no evidence of forced entry, and security cameras around the neighborhood did not show any intruder, the Daily Iowan reports.

Investigators also reportedly found a palm print on the recovered gun linked to Alexander Jackson. He was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and booked into Linn County Jail, records show.

On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Alexander Jackson, a former University of Iowa business student, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder following six hours of deliberation, the Daily Iowan reports. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3 and could face life in prison.

According to the Gazette, Alexander Jackson never admitted to fatally shooting his family members, and no clear motive was ever established. As the verdict was read, he reportedly showed no emotion.

Following the verdict, Kay Jackson, Jan’s sister, and her daughter, Danielle Jackson Parsons, reportedly said, "Alex wanted the world to think he was a victim of this horrendous crime, but we know that is not the case, and now, everyone knows the truth of what happened that day."

They added, "Alex murdered three members of our family and that pain will never go away. Jan, Melissa, and Sabrina were loved. They will live on in our hearts and the hearts of those who knew them forever."

MORE:

• Linn County Jail Records
• Iowa man who called cops to report shooting now charged with murdering family, 6/17/2021 — TCD
• Alex Jackson found guilty of killing parents, sister in triple murder trial — KGAN
• Jackson trial: Former UI student found guilty for first-degree murder of parents, sister — The Daily Iowan
• Alexander Jackson convicted of 3 life sentences for killing his family in 2021 — The Gazette