Tragic Case: Woman Sought Help Just Days Before Her Husband Allegedly Took Her Life, Say Authorities

In a dramatic turn of events, Glenn Jackson, a Kentucky resident, made a significant admission in court just days before his murder trial was set to begin. This development is poised to bring a conclusion to the high-profile case involving the death of his wife.

Jackson, aged 45, entered an Alford plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter for the death of his wife, Ella Jackson, who was 47 at the time. He also pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. As reported by NBC affiliate WLEX in Lexington, an Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain their claim of innocence while acknowledging that the prosecution possesses enough evidence to likely secure a conviction at trial.

The legal journey for Jackson began in the spring of 2020 when he was arrested and initially charged with murder. The case faced numerous delays, largely due to pandemic-induced court shutdowns, slowdowns in forensic processing, judicial recusals, and the emergence of new evidence, according to local CBS affiliate WKYT.

The case originated on October 22, 2019, when Ella Jackson was reported missing. The Richmond Police Department revealed that Glenn Jackson, who had recently ceased working as a professor at Eastern Kentucky University, informed them he last saw his wife on October 20, 2019. He claimed she left their home to walk her dog at a nearby park before her mysterious disappearance.

Authorities found the circumstances surrounding her disappearance puzzling, particularly because Ella Jackson left behind critical personal items including her five-year-old son, her dog, her purse, and her cellphone. These details, along with other investigative findings, contributed to the suspicion surrounding her case.

“Investigators discovered that Mrs. Jackson met with a domestic violence advocate a few days before her disappearance,” Richmond police added in its April 2020 press release. “A search warrant was subsequently executed on the residence and vehicles belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson. A significant amount of blood was located in the trunk of Mr. Jackson’s vehicle that was later proven to belong to Mrs. Jackson.”

“Police located several recordings that Mrs. Jackson secretly made of her and Mr. Jackson’s arguments,” the law enforcement agency added. “Mrs. Jackson also told several individuals that she was afraid of Mr. Jackson, and if anything ever happened to her, her husband would be responsible.”

Glenn Jackson was arrested on April 24, 2020, and about two weeks later, investigators found Ella Jackson’s remains. In a wooded area near property he owned in Pulaski County — two counties south of Madison County — authorities say they found partial skeletal remains and that the Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed “[d]ental records were used to positively identify Mrs. Jackson.”

Ella Jackson’s cause of death remains unknown, according to WLEX, though “she did have a fracture to her skull,” Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Smith said.

Glenn Jackson is set to be sentenced on March 12, with the local outlet reporting that he faces up to 14 years in prison, but that, due to time served on house arrest, he could be released in fewer than eight.

“He will end up having done about 40% of his sentence sitting at his victim’s house, which is incredibly frustrating,” the victim’s ex-husband Jason Hans, who is raising the Jacksons’ young son, told WLEX. “There’s some evidence that he confessed to one of his best friends in December of 2019. He’s denied it ever since then.”