Former Missouri Corrections Officer Accused of Killing Wife, Forcing Children to Help
Authorities allege the former officer strangled his wife and made his children assist in the assault and subsequent concealment of her body.
A former Missouri probation and parole officer and correctional center employee is accused of killing his wife in front of some of his children and forcing them to help him abuse her, according to charging documents.
Jonathan G. Houston, 44, was arrested after one of his seven children called 911 from a hotel and discreetly reported that her father had "captured" them and physically abused them for years. Deputies responded to the Baymont Inn & Suites in Kingdom City on Sunday and found the children.
One child told deputies that Houston strangled their mother approximately 10 months prior, while some children were present. Another child recounted witnessing the strangulation and stated that her father had threatened to kill her mother, identified as 37-year-old Aunika C. Houston.
During the alleged attack, Houston reportedly gripped his wife's throat and forced one child to pour hot water on her legs and another to cover her mouth to muffle her screams. Court records indicate he locked his three youngest children in a bathroom and instructed the other children to play loud music to conceal the mother's cries.
Following the incident, Houston allegedly placed his wife's body in a trash bag and disposed of it in a dumpster on the hotel property. The woman had not been reported missing after the killing.
Houston reportedly admitted to investigators that he killed his wife and had planned the act in advance. "There is no danger to the community. This seems to be an act of domestic violence and it's very unfortunate for everybody involved," Chief Deputy Curtis Hall of the Callaway County Sheriff’s Office told KOMU. "At this point we’re 48 hours afterwards on a crime that we’re already 10 months behind on. We have to be mindful of what we can release and what we should release."
Houston has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping and is being held without bond. His children were taken into protective custody. He is also under investigation for alleged sexual assault and assaults involving other victims, according to deputies. Aunika Houston, originally from California, had been living in Central Missouri for several years. Her next of kin has been notified.