What was Jonathan Jones accused of?
Jonathan Jones was suspected of being responsible for the murders of Harry and Megan Tooze, an elderly couple at their remote Ty ar y Waun farm near Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, United Kingdom, on the 26th of July 1993.
The high-profile case became known in the media as the “Llanharry Murders.” The couple were shot dead at point-blank range with a shotgun in an execution-style killing.
The killer had hidden their bodies in the cowshed of the farm. In a bizarre situation, the elderly couple’s best China crockery was found laid out on the table in the farmhouse to suggest the couple were expecting a guest. Their lunch was also found cooked on the stove. The lead detective on the case said it was the most baffling case he had ever worked on.
What happened when Jonathan Jones was arrested?
The boyfriend of the couple’s daughter, Cheryl was a man called Jonathan Jones and he was arrested and later convicted for the double murder in 1995. The evidence against him was lacking but he was found guilty primarily on the basis that one of his fingerprints was found on one of the teacups. The prosecution claimed Jones committed the murders to get hold of the £150,000 life insurance payment due to being in severe financial difficulty.
However, Jones’ conviction was subsequently overturned only a year later and the case remains one of Wales’ most notorious unsolved murders.
In 2011, the case was re-examined by police. This review led to an investigation into known serial killer burglar, John Cooper, after he was convicted in 2011 for the double shotgun murders of couples in Pembrokeshire back the 1980s. Similarities were found, but no direct evidence linked Cooper to the murders.
Where is Jonathan Jones now?
On the 26th of July 2023, (which was the 30th anniversary of the murders) South Wales Police launched a forensic review of the case.
Jonathan Jones and Cheryl married after he was released from prison, and they have a son together. Jones has never been offered any compensation for the time he spent in prison for the murders he didn’t commit.
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