Don Airsman Jr. murder of William Jones

Don Airsman Jr. shot his stepfather, William Allen Jones, three times with a .45-caliber pistol at Jones’s home in Saratoga, Arkansas, on April 27, 2013, then attempted to destroy evidence by burning Jones’s body in a vehicle in Bowie County, Texas.

Jones, 60, had repeatedly told law enforcement he feared Airsman. Jones was married to Airsman’s mother, who died in November 2011. After her death, Airsman refused to move out of the house.

On February 1, Jones went to the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office and said he was afraid of his stepson. On March 27, he returned and reported that Airsman was trying to poison him. By then, Jones had begun staying in Texarkana, avoiding the Saratoga house except to check mail and belongings.

On the afternoon of April 27, Jones drove to the home. Airsman’s father testified he was working in a nearby shop when Jones arrived. He said he heard Airsman say, “You look tired,” and Jones respond, “Yeah.” Moments later, he heard the first of three gunshots.

Investigators said Airsman spent the next several hours trying to cover up the killing. He wrapped Jones’s body in a quilt, loaded it into the trunk of Jones’s Honda Fit, and washed blood from the driveway with a hose. Deputies later documented bloody footprints and pooled, coagulated blood around the residence.

Airsman then drove the vehicle to Maud, Texas, poured gasoline on it, and set it on fire along Bootlegger Road. Authorities later found Jones’s body in the trunk. Testimony showed Airsman’s father followed him to Texas and then drove him back to the Saratoga house. After returning, Airsman changed clothes and later discarded blood-stained items. Investigators never recovered the murder weapon.

Family members described Jones as an avid outdoorsman and devoted father and grandfather. His daughter told jurors she never received a proper graveside farewell because of the condition of his body. “We’re always going to love and miss him,” another family member said. “There are no words to tell you what a special person he was.”

A Hempstead County jury convicted Airsman of first-degree murder. The court sentenced him to life in prison, plus an additional 15 years to be served consecutively.

Airsman, now 43, entered the Arkansas prison system on March 29, 2013. He is currently housed at the East Arkansas Maximum Security Unit in Marianna.