“STOP!” I looked at Jacob Ind, his fist balled up and drawn back. His eyes almost glowed with an incomprehensible anger. He held my gaze and then slowly dropped his hand to his side. I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. It was the closest I had ever come to having a student swing at me. I explained to him again the expectations for the enrichment class and pointed out to him that even if he didn’t like me or the class, it was only three weeks long. I jokingly suggested he talk to his older brother for strategies on how to survive my class. He finally apologized and I let him go home.
Next, I went to the office and called his mother. She did not respond, as I had been warned. The principal had told me to be ready for a threat of a lawsuit. Instead, mom said she knew Jacob Ind had an anger problem and she would talk to him. Within a year, she and her husband would be dead at the hand of this child who almost hit me. All of these memories came flooding back to me when Kim told me that Jacob had won a retrial.
For those of you who don’t know, Woodland Park is a small bedroom community west of Colorado Springs. It has grown a lot since 1994, but back then, you could count the number of stoplights on one hand, and people often left their doors unlocked. The murder of Pam Jordan and her husband Kermode by her youngest son Jacob Ind shocked the community. That it happened was beyond most people’s comprehension.
How it happened made it even worse. Jacob hired another high school student, Gabriel Adams, to do the deed. Things didn’t go as planned, and both boys ended up doing the killing. First, they sprayed the couple in their bed with bear pepper spray. For some reason, they thought this would kill the couple. When that failed, they then went to work with a hunting knife and a gun. Jacob and Gabriel found out the hard way that people don’t generally die easy.
My friend and teaching partner was both the forensics coach for Jacob and his brother Charles, as well as a good friend of Pam. She ended up, along with me, helping Charles and testifying at the trial. Trisha has since died, but I know how she would feel about Jacob getting a new trial. A lot of old-timers in Woodland Park are unhappy about the new turn in the case. Most were glad the court tried the boys as adults and sentenced them to life without parole. They will be angry if either boy gets out.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, the boys committed a heinous crime. And I was not the only person that Jacob Ind lashed out at. Exhibit A is the time I saw him kick an open locker door while a student had his head in the locker searching for a book. Luckily, the boy wasn’t seriously injured, but Jacob didn’t even know the boy. He just saw the opportunity to hurt someone and did. Jacob had a lot of such incidents in middle school. Gabriel, who insisted that everyone call him “Major,” was well known in the neighborhood for torturing and killing small animals. It would be hard to believe that twenty years in prison has done much to rehabilitate either of these murderers.
On the other hand, a fifteen/sixteen-year old brain is definitely not a mature one. Current research suggests that human brains don’t reach physical maturation until about age twenty-five. That’s a ten year difference. Put in perspective, it’s like holding a five-year-old to the same standard of behavior as a fifteen-year-old. Ridiculous. Life without possibility of parole seems like unnecessary cruelty. Factor in the high probability that Jacob did suffer physical and emotional abuse, and the murders are easier to at least understand.
His sexual abuse claims seem more doubtful. I am not an expert, but I do have some training and experience in this area. Jacob Ind’s stories don’t fit into any pattern of sexual abuse I am aware of. I’m not saying sexual abuse didn’t happen, but I don’t believe the versions that either Jacob or his brother describe.
Society needs to consider two fundamental questions in determining justice for this case. First, should a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old be held to the same standards of accountability as adults? Second, do these offenders pose a threat to society? I think the answer to the first question is “no.” The human brain is not fully developed and therefore not fully accountable until the mid-twenties. This is not my opinion, it is a demonstrable fact. The second question is trickier. Is either one of these men still a threat to hurt or kill someone if they are released? These are questions that only trained professionals who have had ample opportunity to observe the killers can answer. And even they get it wrong often enough to be worrisome. No matter what, I’m glad someone else has to make the decision.
Still, Jacob has won a new trial for either acquittal or resentencing. If he is found innocent or has his sentence reduced, then Gabriel will also get another chance. And it is possible that Jacob, Gabriel, or both will be transferred to my facility to help them prepare for reintegration into society. It is not a reunion I am looking forward to.
