THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Jerry Mark
#0103896
photo courtesy Murderpedia
Full Name: Jerry Allen Mark
DOB: January 12, 1943
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Black Hawk
City: Cedar Falls
Current Status: Iowa State Penitentiary
Date of Crime: November 1, 1975
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victims: Leslie Mark, Jorjean Mark, Julie Mark & Jeffery Mark
DOB: January 12, 1943
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Black Hawk
City: Cedar Falls
Current Status: Iowa State Penitentiary
Date of Crime: November 1, 1975
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victims: Leslie Mark, Jorjean Mark, Julie Mark & Jeffery Mark
Sometime between 1:00 and 3:00 AM, on November 1, 1975, four persons were shot to death in their home at the Leslie Mark farm in Cedar Falls. The four victims were related to Jerry Allen Mark. They were Leslie Mark, Jerry’s brother and a farmer; Leslie’s wife, Jorjean; their 5-year-old daughter, Julie; and their 18-month-old son, Jeffery.
On October 3, 1975, Jerry purchased a white helmet and a used a 450cc Honda motorcycle somewhere near his residence in Berkeley, California. The motorcycle was dark brown in color, had a windshield and leg protectors, and a luggage box on the back. Jerry also owned an Iowa registered 100cc Honda motorcycle. At some time prior to November 1, 1975, he removed the Iowa license plate from his 100cc Honda and put the plate on the 450cc Honda.
On October 20, Jerry purchased one box of fifty .38-caliber Winchester Western Long Colt bullets manufactured in 1975, using his Iowa driver’s license for identification, from Ken’s Sport Shop in Paso Robles, California. He had access to a pistol capable of firing these bullets. On October 28, Jerry bought a black Belstaff riding suit and a pair of motorcycle gloves from a Honda dealership in Berkeley.
Jerry left his apartment in Berkeley on the morning of October 29 on his 450cc motorcycle. He traveled through Lovelock, Nevada, on Interstate 80. He proceeded on Interstate 80 through Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Chappell, Nebraska, arriving there on the morning of October 31. He then continued east toward Iowa, stopping at Stuckeys Pecan Shoppe in Brady, Nebraska. He left Brady and traveled to Atlantic, Iowa, stopping at the Shamrock Café. He then proceeded to Newton, where he was observed at another Stuckeys Pecan Shoppe. After leaving Newton, Jerry traveled north to Ackly, stopping at a Holiday gas station at approximately 8 PM on October 31. Ackley is only 36 miles from the Leslie Mark farm, which is located just west of Cedar Falls on Union Road.
Jerry left Ackley after getting gas and later was at the Leslie Mark farm in the early morning hours of November 1. He cut the wires in the telephone terminal box located across the road from the farmhouse. In the process, he dropped two .38-caliber Long Colt bullets on the ground. He then walked up the driveway to the residence. He walked past the house to a camper, in which Leslie occasionally slept after unloading corn into his storage bin. He returned to the house and using the key that normally hung by the back door, entered the house. At some time, he went to the basement, turned off the power and while there, smoked two Marlboro cigarettes.
Jerry then went to Leslie and Jorjean’s bedroom, located on the main floor of the house. He shot each of them, Leslie five times, four times in the head and once in the stomach, and Jorjean four times, twice in the head and once in the back, with another shot simply grazing her skin. The wounds were fatal to each.
Jerry made his way upstairs to Julie’s bedroom. He fatally shot Julie twice, once through the heart and once through her right eye. While in her room, he smoked another Marlboro cigarette. Then he went to Jeffery’s bedroom and shot the infant two times, once in the left chest and once above the right eye, killing him.
Jerry left the farm and was next observed in Williams, 66 miles from the farmhouse, at approximately 5:00 AM on November 1. At 7:30 AM, he was seen in Stuart, and between 3:00 and 4:00 PM, he called his residence in California from Alda, Nebraska.
In the days after Dorothy Mark found her son, daughter-in-law and their two children murdered, she denied that Jerry, one of her three surviving sons, could have broken into the family farmhouse under the cover of a harvest night and committed the crimes. Though there wasn’t any DNA evidence linking him to the crimes at the time, Jerry lied to investigators about the trip he took around the time of the murders, and the box of bullets he bought in California – which were uncommon.
On November 7, Iowa BCI agents Jutte and Swaim started a trip contacting individuals and establishments along Highway 20 west, I-35 South and I-80 west from Iowa into Nebraska in their effort to locate individuals who may have seen Jerry on either October 31 or November 1. This was the route allegedly taken by Jerry. Jutte and Swaim visited every establishment along the route from Cedar Falls-Waterloo to Nebraska in their investigative journey. They interviewed approximately 100 persons before they found Jerry and arrested him.
In the 1990s, after DNA testing became available, the butts from the farmhouse were examined and excluded Jerry as the smoker. Jerry has always maintained his innocence. “I am innocent. I did not shoot my brother, Les, and his family, and I come before the court claiming actual innocence,” Jerry said at his most recent application for post-conviction relief in 2007.
The Generation Why Podcast covered this case on Episode 58. They invited the author of 'Brother's Blood,' Scott Cawelti on the show, who has spent a lot of time researching this case and even got the chance to interview the murderer. To listen to the episode, click here: http://thegenerationwhypodcast.com/brothers-blood-58-generation-why
On October 3, 1975, Jerry purchased a white helmet and a used a 450cc Honda motorcycle somewhere near his residence in Berkeley, California. The motorcycle was dark brown in color, had a windshield and leg protectors, and a luggage box on the back. Jerry also owned an Iowa registered 100cc Honda motorcycle. At some time prior to November 1, 1975, he removed the Iowa license plate from his 100cc Honda and put the plate on the 450cc Honda.
On October 20, Jerry purchased one box of fifty .38-caliber Winchester Western Long Colt bullets manufactured in 1975, using his Iowa driver’s license for identification, from Ken’s Sport Shop in Paso Robles, California. He had access to a pistol capable of firing these bullets. On October 28, Jerry bought a black Belstaff riding suit and a pair of motorcycle gloves from a Honda dealership in Berkeley.
Jerry left his apartment in Berkeley on the morning of October 29 on his 450cc motorcycle. He traveled through Lovelock, Nevada, on Interstate 80. He proceeded on Interstate 80 through Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Chappell, Nebraska, arriving there on the morning of October 31. He then continued east toward Iowa, stopping at Stuckeys Pecan Shoppe in Brady, Nebraska. He left Brady and traveled to Atlantic, Iowa, stopping at the Shamrock Café. He then proceeded to Newton, where he was observed at another Stuckeys Pecan Shoppe. After leaving Newton, Jerry traveled north to Ackly, stopping at a Holiday gas station at approximately 8 PM on October 31. Ackley is only 36 miles from the Leslie Mark farm, which is located just west of Cedar Falls on Union Road.
Jerry left Ackley after getting gas and later was at the Leslie Mark farm in the early morning hours of November 1. He cut the wires in the telephone terminal box located across the road from the farmhouse. In the process, he dropped two .38-caliber Long Colt bullets on the ground. He then walked up the driveway to the residence. He walked past the house to a camper, in which Leslie occasionally slept after unloading corn into his storage bin. He returned to the house and using the key that normally hung by the back door, entered the house. At some time, he went to the basement, turned off the power and while there, smoked two Marlboro cigarettes.
Jerry then went to Leslie and Jorjean’s bedroom, located on the main floor of the house. He shot each of them, Leslie five times, four times in the head and once in the stomach, and Jorjean four times, twice in the head and once in the back, with another shot simply grazing her skin. The wounds were fatal to each.
Jerry made his way upstairs to Julie’s bedroom. He fatally shot Julie twice, once through the heart and once through her right eye. While in her room, he smoked another Marlboro cigarette. Then he went to Jeffery’s bedroom and shot the infant two times, once in the left chest and once above the right eye, killing him.
Jerry left the farm and was next observed in Williams, 66 miles from the farmhouse, at approximately 5:00 AM on November 1. At 7:30 AM, he was seen in Stuart, and between 3:00 and 4:00 PM, he called his residence in California from Alda, Nebraska.
In the days after Dorothy Mark found her son, daughter-in-law and their two children murdered, she denied that Jerry, one of her three surviving sons, could have broken into the family farmhouse under the cover of a harvest night and committed the crimes. Though there wasn’t any DNA evidence linking him to the crimes at the time, Jerry lied to investigators about the trip he took around the time of the murders, and the box of bullets he bought in California – which were uncommon.
On November 7, Iowa BCI agents Jutte and Swaim started a trip contacting individuals and establishments along Highway 20 west, I-35 South and I-80 west from Iowa into Nebraska in their effort to locate individuals who may have seen Jerry on either October 31 or November 1. This was the route allegedly taken by Jerry. Jutte and Swaim visited every establishment along the route from Cedar Falls-Waterloo to Nebraska in their investigative journey. They interviewed approximately 100 persons before they found Jerry and arrested him.
In the 1990s, after DNA testing became available, the butts from the farmhouse were examined and excluded Jerry as the smoker. Jerry has always maintained his innocence. “I am innocent. I did not shoot my brother, Les, and his family, and I come before the court claiming actual innocence,” Jerry said at his most recent application for post-conviction relief in 2007.
The Generation Why Podcast covered this case on Episode 58. They invited the author of 'Brother's Blood,' Scott Cawelti on the show, who has spent a lot of time researching this case and even got the chance to interview the murderer. To listen to the episode, click here: http://thegenerationwhypodcast.com/brothers-blood-58-generation-why
Source: Murderpedia