Malissa Ancona pleaded guilty to killing her husband, Missouri Ku Klux Klan leader Frank Ancona, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Ancona, 47, admitted in court Friday that she shot Frank Ancona twice in their house in Leadwood in 2017 and dumped his body.
“I fired both shots that killed my husband,” she told the judge.
Ancona pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
Ancona was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Ancona’s son, Paul Jinkerson Jr., is facing the same charges. Ancona said that her son helped her dispose of the body but did not shoot her husband.
Ancona initially told police that her son shot her husband and agreed to testify against him but later recanted while in jail.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Malissa Ancona Reported That Frank Ancona Was Missing in 2017
In February of 2017, Malissa Ancona reporter her husband as missing.
“On Friday the Washington County Sheriff’s Office learned of the disappearance of Frank Ancona, who was missing from Leadwood, Missouri. During this time, we were also informed Mr. Ancona’s vehicle had been located by a United States Federal Forest Service employee on Federal Forest Service property,” Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said in the statement at the time, according to ABC News.
After an investigation, Malissa Ancona and her son were arrested.
2. Ancona Blamed Her Son For Killing Her Husband
Ancona initially blamed her son, 24-year-old Paul Jinkerson Jr., for killing her husband after the arrest.
“Ms. Ancona admitted that she failed to report the crime and additionally attempted to destroy blood evidence and altered the crime scene in an attempt to conceal the offense and was acting in concert with her son Paul Jinkerson Jr.,” police said in a probable cause statement, according to the Charlotte Observer.
She later said in a letter to the court that she was “under the influence” when she talked to investigators and could not remember what happened, The Post-Dispatch reported.
3. Ancona Later Admitted She Killed Her Husband
Ancona later admitted in a letter from jail that she pulled the trigger.
She said she wrote the letter “to let the court know, that he did not pull the trigger, (I DiD).”
“My son is innocent,” she wrote.
4. Ancona Pleaded Guilty to Murder Charges in Court Friday
Malissa Ancona Pleads Guilty to Killing Klan Leader Frank Ancona t.co/vilLNyI5cL
Ancona pleaded guilty to murder and related charges in court on Friday.
“I fired both shots that killed my husband,” she told St. Francois County Circuit Judge Wendy Wexler Horn.
Ancona pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
Asked if her son was involved in the crimes, she said, “not the first one.”
5. Frank Ancona’s Father Says Malissa Was a ‘Terrible Wife’
Ancona’s father, Frank Ancona Sr., told the judge that he had to identify his son’s body but his son had “no face left” after the shooting.
He said that Malissa had been a “terrible wife” and said he repeatedly asked his son, “Why, why do you stay with her?”
Ancona Sr. said Malissa killed his son because he planned to leave her.
The Riverfront Times reported shortly after the murder that Ancona had told family members he thought his wife “was trying to kill him, possibly poisoning his food with medications in hopes he would fall asleep at the wheel while working his courier job.”
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