‘There’s a lot I’m guilty for’ — but not murder, says father of boy fed to pigs

Michael A. Jones testified Friday that his lawyer pressured him to plead guilty to the murder of his son, whose body was later fed to pigs.

“There’s a lot I’m guilty for. I’m just not guilty of first-degree murder,” Jones told a Wyandotte County judge.

In March, Jones, 46, pleaded guilty in Wyandotte County to felony first-degree murder in the 2015 death of his 7-year-old son, Adrian Jones. He was sentenced in May to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

Jones, now seeking to withdraw the guilty plea, said his attorney repeatedly pressured him to plead guilty and told him that he wouldn’t defend him if he took the case to trial.

The attorney who represented him at the time, John Duma, who has been practicing criminal law for more than 30 years, testified Friday that he told Jones he would present the defense Jones wanted. But Duma said that if he went to trial, he believed the jury would seek to find Jones guilty of a more serious crime, premeditated first-degree murder, because of the gruesome facts of the case.

That would have carried a sentence of life with no parole for 50 years instead of the 25 prosecutors offered in their plea deal. Duma said he told Jones it was in his best interest to take the plea.

“I told him I think they’ll (a jury) do everything they can to find you guilty of the most serious crime available,” Duma said.

Under Kansas law, in order to be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, Jones must prove that he was the victim of a manifest injustice.

Deputy District Attorney Crystalyn Oswald said there is “simply no manifest injustice.” She also said she believed that if Jones’ case went to trial now, he would be found guilty of premeditated murder.

The judge, Mike Grosko, took the matter under advisement and said he hoped to have a written decision within 60 days.

Adrian’s remains were found in November 2015 on property rented by Jones and his wife in the 5200 block of North 99th Street in Kansas City, Kan.

In earlier court hearings, prosecutors and detectives said that Adrian was abused, tortured, starved and his body was ultimately fed to pigs.

Jones’ wife — Adrian’s stepmother — Heather J. Jones, 31, is also serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to felony first-degree murder and child abuse.

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 3:19 PM with the headline "‘There’s a lot I’m guilty for’ — but not murder, says father of boy fed to pigs."