Newspaper Page Text
Page 7A
March 16, 2022
iReporter
TRIAL
Continued from Front
Harbour Shores home, car
and boat of Sidney Jones
after his death at the age of
77 in April 2020.
“Donna is the ringleader,
but she couldn’t do it with
out the others,” said Hull.
“While his friends and
family endured his death,
that pack of thieves began
conspiring to take every
thing he had worked for.”
But defense attorney Joe
Todd of Jonesboro said that
Jones had courted Nelson,
that they were planning
on getting married and
taking a cruise in June 2020
and that he didn’t like his
children and didn’t want
to leave them anything in
his will. Todd said Jones’
cousin Kay Victor was a
money grabber and that
Jones’ children only came
around when they wanted
money.
Jones’ first cousin Victor,
who lives in Kathleen, testi
fied that Jones was taken
to Coliseum hospital (now
Piedmont) with COVID
and other health problems
on March 19,2020. She
said she had just spoken to
him five days earlier. When
she got to the hospital it
was the first time she had
met Donna Nelson. She
said Nelson said nothing
about being Jones’ fiancee.
Doctors put Jones on a
respirator in ICU and his
family never was able to see
him or speak to him again,
said Victor. He died April
3,2020. Victor said he was
the first COVID death at
Coliseum and the first one
from Monroe County.
The family decided to
make Victor the execu
tor of the estate since she
was closest geographically.
Jones’ grown children lived
in Colorado, Texas and
Florida. But trouble began
on May 5,2020 when Vic
tor went with Jones’ chil
dren to the 6,100-square-
foot lake-front home at 477
Harbour Shores Drive to
inventory the estate. Nelson
had moved into the home
and wouldn’t let them
in. Nelson said she had
had a break-in and wasn’t
comfortable with them
entering the house. When
they broke a window to
try to gain entry, she called
911. Her attorney Todd
said Nelson was asleep and
they were lucky she didn’t
use her 357 that was on her
nightstand on them.
Later Victor learned that
Nelson had filed a quit
claim deed in April, shortly
after Jones’ death, giving
Nelson the home. However
Victor said the signature
didn’t match Jones’. Victor
said she visited Jones 2-3
times per year and he never
mentioned Nelson.
Prosecutor Hull said the
quit claim deed was part
of a flurry of filings Nelson
made in April just after
his death giving her all his
property, including his
pontoon boat and GMC
Terrain. Nelson sold the
boat to the DNR. Nelson
also filed a will that said
Jones was leaving every
thing to her.
Hull said the quit claim
deed was dated Dec. 15,
2019. Yet she said the evi
dence shows Jones was try
ing to refinance his home
in early 2020 to pay a settle
ment to his ex-wife Anne
Jones, who had moved to
St. Simons Island.
Hull said that Nelson and
her three co-defendants
forged the documents to
take everything he had.
But defense attorney
Todd said those four peo
ple, rather than his family,
were the ones Jones trusted.
Todd said Jones didn’t
trust lawyers either, so he
summoned Nelson and
three others who did work
for him, Mark Cain, Cindy
Padgett, his housekeeper,
and Mary Stephens, who
did odd jobs and kept the
pool, and a fourth witness,
to make a will in late 2019.
He said they sat around a
table at the home to sign
the will. Except for Nelson,
none of the others stood
anything to gain and were
just helping their friend,
said Todd.
“This is what Sidney
wanted,” said Todd. “He set
this up.”
Todd said that Nelson
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had been a nurse and took
care of Jones and made
sure he took his medicines.
Todd said that Jones had
such an issue with trust
that he put $90,000 in fake
money around his home
to test people to see if they
would steal it.
Wrapping her opening
statement, Hull said the
spring of2020 was a ter
rible time for the country,
and that Jones’ death was
one of the tragedies, made
worse by a pack of thieves.
“He had more boat rides
to take,” said Hull. “More
people to help. And it’s ter
rible that people will take
advantage of someone like
that.”
Victor said Jones was a
recovering alcoholic who
tried to help people who
needed it. The case is ex
pected to go to the jury by
the end of the week.
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