First day of testimony in Jones trial brings light to events from 2014

Nine people took the stand, describing his behavior leading up to and after the death of his five children

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LEXINGTON, S.C. (WOLO) — Day two of the Timothy Jones murder trial reveals how Timothy Jones spent the days leading up to and after the death of his five children.

When the three oldest Jones children did not show up to school for a few days, school officials called the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office for a welfare check. Some say it was eerie when they showed up at the house.

“My heart dropped because at that point, we had absolutely no contact since that previous Thursday and in my mind, they had disappeared, they had vanished,” said Janet Ricard, the former Assistant Principal at Saxe Gotha Elementary School.

While police filed a missing person’s report for Jones and his children, the father drove the bodies around the Southeast, leading him to step foot in a gas station in the middle of Alabama. One worker says one thing made Jones stand out that day.

“It was like the worst case of body odor that I’ve ever smelled, and it had a chemical smell to it that could burn your nose,” said Linda Watkins, who worked at a gas station Jones visited.

Jones kept driving until he was pulled over 50 miles away from Jackson, Mississippi. Officers say they noticed Jones had “red, glassy eyes” and had marijuana in the car. Some also say they noticed the “smell of death” protruding from the vehicle.

“I saw some trashbags, some clothing, I saw some chemicals, some bleach,” said Undersheriff Marty Patterson of the Smith County (Miss.) Sheriff’s Department.

Jones was promptly arrested for driving under the influence and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Officers kept asking about the whereabouts of the children.

After saying he had no children, then saying he had three that were in South Carolina, Jones gave a chilling response when officers asked again.

“He said everything you need to know is in the SUV,” Undersheriff Patterson said in his testimony.

After some further questioning and some time on suicide watch, authorities say Jones ended up guiding them to the bodies, found on a hillside in rural Alabama.

“They were in black plastic garbage bags. After we found the bodies, we brought Jones back to Smith County,” Undersheriff Patterson said. 

At some point during the testimony, Undersheriff Patterson said Jones put his hands around his father’s neck when he asked where the kids were.

The first half of the trial’s second day focused on Jones’s behavior in the days leading up to the night his children died.

Several witnesses say Jones seemed overwhelmed balancing out a busy family and work life, but no one said they saw any red flags that summer that would lead to him killing his children.

As someone who lived next door and watched his kids from time to time, Christina Ehlke remembers Timothy Jones as socially awkward but fiercely devoted to his work and faith.

“”The separation with his wife he might have suffered from some depression or being upset. I was under the impression that he was a struggling single father of five kids, so I worked with him in any way I could,” Ehlke said.

Balancing a job as a software engineer at Intel and being a single father to five children, some say they started to see a different Timothy Jones in the summer of 2014.

“He looked like he was definitely losing some weight, he started smoking, he looked maybe a little haggard, like he had a lot on his mind. A lot to do,” said James McConnell, who used to manage Jones at Intel.

School officials say they had their concerns about the oldest Jones children, so they called the Department of Social Services to check out the home. School officials say that Jones threatened to home school his kid and withdraw them from the school as a result of the visit.

The trial continues tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Lexington County.