Jordan Knudson
An Indiana man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for shooting his ex-girlfriend in the head multiple times shortly after she obtained a protective order against him. There was evidence of escalating violence, Judge Ryan King said in a Ripley County courtroom on Tuesday, according to a WLWT report.
Jordan Knudson, 37, terrorized Kristina “Krissy” Jones, 36, at least during the weeks leading up to her murder. As previously reported, Krissy showed up an emergency room on Dec. 15, 2020, saying she had pain and knots on the left side of her side. She said “he hits me in the head ’cause it doesn’t bruise as bad.” She got an ex parte protective order against Knudson. His parents said he dodged getting served, officials said.
In the timeline of events, a frightened Jones locked herself inside the SUV of Holton Food Mart employee Angie Miles on Jan. 9, 2021. Jones, hiding from Knudson, called Miles. A customer took Jones to the home of her friend Rodney McEvoy. McEvoy arrived home after midnight, finding Jones covered in blood in his bathtub.
Krissy had been gunned down in the bathtub on the night of Jan. 10, 2021, just hours after she had dinner with her two children, prosecutor Ric Hertel said.
McEvoy rushed over to his parents’ nearby home. His mother Marilee McEvoy, a nurse, performed CPR.
“I was just hoping I could breathe some life into her, but it couldn’t be done,” a distraught Marilee said, according to a March 2021 report from The Osgood Journal. “Nobody deserves this.”
Jones had been friends with Rodney and the McEvoy family for years.
Investigators determined Krissy died of rounds from a .410 caliber firearm. Knudson possessed such a firearm.
From the charging affidavit:
Jordan Knudson’s parents, Norman and Pina Knudson, purchased a Mossberg 500 .410 pump shotgun and three boxes of .410 shotgun shells at the Walmart in Greensburg, IN. That purchase took place on July 14, 2020. Norman and Pina Knudson last saw that weapon on December 24, 2020, when Jordan placed it and some of the ammunition inside the home. Norman disclosed that he became aware this .410 shotgun was missing from the residence as of 1-11-2021, along with a box of .410 shells.
When interviewed by detectives with the Indiana State Police, Knudson disclosed that he had owned and later sold a sawed-off .410 shotgun with the serial numbers removed. He claimed this was a different weapon from the one his parents had purchased. Days later, the ISP received an anonymous letter suggesting someone may have had possession of the shotgun police were looking for. An examination by the ISP laboratory determined the letter contained a latent fingerprint. Additional examination found that the fingerprint belonged to the defendant, according to the Greensburg Daily News.
Authorities said Knudson claimed that he had dropped off Jones at the Holton Food Mart on Jan. 9, 2021, after she spent the night at his residence. He said that he, Jones, Rodney McEvoy and a fourth friend did drugs in that individual’s garage. That friend told cops, however, about not seeing Knudson in months, and about not seeing Jones the night she died. McEvoy denied being at the garage.
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
[Image via Ripley County Sheriff’s Department]