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Death ends family’s fight to keep killer behind bars |
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Monday, 14 April 2008 |
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Brandie Jones of Benton never can bring back her grandfather, but she’ll never have to wonder again if his murderer will be set free.  Brandie Jones of Benton looks forward to focusing on her family and career now that she no longer has to fight to keep the man who killed her grandfather behind bars. Don Jeffers died in March. With Jones here is 2-year-old son, Eliot. (Courier photo by Jillian Duke)
Jones, 35, was just a child in the summer of 1980 when her grandfather, William Hash, was beaten to death in his Saline County home by Don Jeffers. During his trial, Jeffers confessed to the murder and was handed a life sentence.
In 2004, Jones joined then-Saline County prosecutor Robert Herzfeld to keep Jeffers behind bars, culminating in the successful lawsuit against former Gov. Mike Huckabee. The litigation changed clemency procedures in Arkansas in favor of victims.
Jeffers, 59, died March 15, 2008, in the diagnostic hospital of the Arkansas Department of Correction, spokesperson Dina Tyler said. He died from an inoperable brain hemorrhage, she said, noting Jeffers had a history of cardiovascular problems.
Jones feels a sense a relief with Jeffers’ death, but she also expressed empathy for his family.
“I am greatly relieved that I do not ever have to worry about facing this issue again,” she said. “But as a human being, I also feel saddened for Jeffers’ family and know that they are grieving for their loss much the same way that my family grieved all these years in the loss of my grandfather.”
It’s been four years since Jones has been in the limelight advocating victims’ rights. But thoughts of if and when she’d have to stand up to the parole board again never escaped her.
“I knew that the possibility was always there, but I had hoped that my family’s previous efforts to ensure future notification of clemency request hearings for Jeffers would [make us] aware if the situation arose again,” she said. “Fortunately, we have not had to do anything and the most recent notification from the Department of Correction was the letter we received regarding Jeffers’ passing.”
Jones’ major complaint to the governor was that he had failed to give a reason for granting the clemency as well as proper notice to her family and law enforcement officials, both bound by law.
“The governor didn’t do either of those things, and they finally admitted that and the clemency was reversed,” Herzfeld said. “A year later, Jeffers applied for clemency again, and that time, Gov. Huckabee turned him down.
“The Jeffers case was the beginning of a real movement in Arkansas to reform the clemency system. And with the Denver Witham case [Witham was convicted of murder in the 1970s and later applied for clemency] and others like it, we kept up the pressure until the governor finally gave up and made sweeping changes in his policies and the legislature passed new laws improving the procedures.”
Herzfeld got involved in the case, he said, when he received a phone call from Jones, who is married to Justin Jones, a former classmate of Herzfeld’s. “She called me up and said, ‘Robert, William Hash was my grandfather.’ That made this case much more real and more personal.”
Jeffers’ death has provided Jones with the closure she had been lacking all these years, and now all her focus can be put on her family and career.
“It was a big responsibility to stand up as the spokesperson for what my family believed was right,” she said. “I felt obligated to do what my mother, if she were still living, would have wanted me to do. We accomplished our mission of honoring my grandfather’s memory by ensuring that justice was served.
“Also, Robert Herzfeld’s efforts to make it happen will never be forgotten by my family, and I will always be grateful to him for helping this chapter of our lives end the way we wanted. I only wish that my great-uncle, Wayne Hash, who supported my efforts during the clemency hearing and who passed away last year, had still been with us as we close this chapter of our lives.”
Since the last clemency hearing, Jones has become the mother of 2-year-old Eliot. “I’m looking forward to celebrating his third birthday and my eighth wedding anniversary next month with my wonderful husband,” she said.
Jones is the executive director of the nonprofit Arkansas Committed to Education Foundation.
“Through this position, I have had the opportunity and the honor of graduating as a member of Leadership Greater Little Rock Class XXII last spring and am currently a class member of the state Chamber of Commerce Leadership Arkansas Class II from which I will graduate at the end of June,” she said.
Jones also is an active member of the Benton Junior Auxiliary, a volunteer group dedicated to helping improve the lives of children and families. She will have completed her years of active service to the organization the end of this month.
To any other people whose loved ones have been murdered, Jones said, “I hope they each find peace and solace in their lives that we all seek as victims’ family members.” She added that she encourages them “to stay strong in their resolve to seek the justice they feel is deserved for their families and to become a member of the Arkansas VINE program.” It is a free, automated hotline that provides crime victims with information and notification 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. People may access the program by calling 1-800-510-0415 or visit online at www.vinelink.com.
“As I grow older and now that I have a child of my own, I realize more than ever how precious life is and my hope is to have a life best lived with my family,” Jones said. “As I watch my son play and discover the world that is his for the taking, I know that my grandfather’s legacy lives on.”
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