Eric Lane Jones, 56, was arrested on January 3, 2022, for the May 28, 1985, murder of Jawed Ahmed in Anchorage, Alaska. Ahmed, 32, picked up an unknown man at a gas station at about 12:15 am. A short time later, Ahmed’s taxi crashed into a yard. Ahmed had been shot several times in what police believed to be a botched robbery. The suspect fled the scene. A blood-stained shirt sleeve was found by a K9 team, and a blood-stained grey sweater was also found nearby.
A DNA profile was developed from the sleeve of the t-shirt in 2009, but there were no hits in CODIS. Tests of the sweater confirmed that the blood was that of Ahmed. The FGG investigation was conducted by Othram. Funding for the laboratory work was donated by Season of Justice. The initial confirmation was made through the surreptitious sampling of a bottle and a pair of chopsticks from at a restaurant where Jones ate a meal.
Jones was detained at his home in Boise, Idaho. He has confessed to officers that he shot Ahmed. He states that Ahmed assaulted him and attempted to make sexual advances. Jones was known to be living in Anchorage at the time of the murder, and he crossed into the Yukon three days later. Photos of Jones as a young man show a resemblance with the forensic artist’s sketches of the suspect drawn from witness statements taken at the time of the murder.
Jones has been indicted by a Grand Jury in Anchorage for one count of first-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree murder. He is being held on bond and is facing these charges in the Anchorage Superior Court.
Sources:
Attorney General’s Office (Anchorage). “Eric Jones Indicted for 1985 Anchorage Murder.” Anchorage Police Department (Press Release), January 19, 2022. Accessed January 29, 2022. https://www.anchoragepolice.com/news/eric-jones-indicted-for-1985-anchorage-murder.
Grove, Casey. “Anchorage Cold Case Took Detectives from Bloody Clothes to Genetic Profile to Accused Killer’s Chopsticks.” Alaska Public Media, January 20, 2022. Accessed January 29, 2022. https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/01/20/anchorage-cold-case-took-detectives-from-bloody-clothes-to-genetic-profile-to-accused-killers-chopsticks/.
Vogen, Michael. “Anchorage Police Department Leverages Othram’s Genetic Testing Platform to Identify the 1985 Killer of Jawed Ahmed.” DNASolves.com, January 24, 2022. Accessed January 29, 2022. https://dnasolves.com/articles/anchorage_pd_jawed_ahmed/.
Williams, Tess. “Idaho Man Charged in Cold-Case Killing of Anchorage Taxi Driver.” Anchorage Daily News, January 20, 2022. Accessed January 29, 2022. https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2022/01/20/idaho-man-charged-in-cold-case-killing-of-anchorage-taxi-driver-after-dna-match/.