Jones murder trial set to begin

PALMER -- The murder trial of an Anchorage man accused of shooting another man and dumping his body off the side of the road in Sutton two years ago is up for trial call Thursday in Palmer Superior Court.

Darin L. Jones, 35, was arrested in Anchorage Aug. 26, 2000, on a weapons charge. Apparently during a police interview, Jones provided information that led police and Alaska State Troopers to the body of 27-year-old Shane P. Rogers.

Rogers' body was discovered days after Jones' arrest, at a turnout at Mile 65.5 Glenn Hwy. A state medical examiner's autopsy revealed Rogers died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Jones is scheduled to stand trial May 1 on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, misconduct involving a controlled substance and misconduct involving a weapon.

According to court documents, Jones and Rogers drove from Anchorage to Palmer on Aug. 25, 2000, to go to the Alaska State Fair. They apparently were taking methamphetamine and kept driving north in Jones' Datsun.

Jones reportedly told investigators the two were lifelong friends who worked together at an Anchorage concrete company and lived together off and on. Rogers and Jones had been smoking and taking lines of methamphetamine as they drove, according to statements Jones made to police. He became increasingly convinced he was being poisoned by Rogers, he told police, "by some kind of gunpowder" or red phosphorus in the meth. He said he felt his "brain melting" and "fire in his back."

The two men argued as they drove, Jones reportedly told police. Jones described a 9mm weapon on the console of the Datsun, which he picked up at some point and Rogers tried to wrestle from his hand. The gun went off the first time without harming Rogers, but a second struggle several minutes later resulted in Rogers being shot, Jones told police.

Anchorage police questioned Jones after they found a Datsun on the side of the road at Old Seward and Dowling with Jones' driver's license in the seat. A broken window left glass on the floorboards, and police found blood on the passenger seat.

Jones said he had run out of gas and went to a nearby residence, where he took Rogers' truck. Police located Jones at his home blocks away, along with the gun, and charged him as a felon in possession of a weapon.

During subsequent questioning at APD quarters, Jones was apparently disoriented and told police several times that "Shane is not dead." At one point, he wondered aloud why the police were questioning him since "You were there, weren't you?"

In the transcripts of those interviews, Jones told police the drugs he was taking made him think that someone else was in the car with him and Rogers. He stopped talking during a seemingly lucid moment after being questioned about Rogers' death, and asked for an attorney.

Jones' defense attorney Darrel Gardner, with the Office of Public Advocacy, filed motions in January asking the judge to dismiss the indictment against Jones and suppress evidence obtained from Jones' testimony to police.

Gardner argued that Jones was "fearful and irrational" when police questioned him. He said Jones was driving around in his Datsun on the night of Rogers' death "because he didn't know what to do."

Gardner said Jones' statements to police were made because "he was concerned about being beaten if he didn't talk with them."

Palmer Assistant District Attorney Jack Smith argued in counter motions that police transcripts prove Jones was read his rights several times and that police clearly told him they do not operate by "beating" witnesses nor would they force him to speak if he didn't want to.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Dan Hensley, presiding judge, upheld the indictment at a Feb. 22 hearing, and denied the motion to suppress evidence.

Hensley also ruled that any information about the weapons charge was inadmissible because it could prejudice the jury in revealing Jones had a prior felony conviction for third-degree assault.

Jones remains at Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility in lieu of $50,000 bail.