NATHANIEL E. JACKSON | Shot his lover's ex-husband in order to collect his life insurance | on DR since December 11, 2002 (21 years) | ALS | SEALED

Nathaniel Jackson. Autographed Letter, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Columbus, OH. Pmk: July 25, 2023. Content unknown. SEALED.

Donna Roberts lived with Robert Fingerhut, her former husband, in Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. Fingerhut, who operated Greyhound bus terminals in Warren and Youngstown, owned two insurance policies on his life, both of which named Roberts as sole beneficiary. The total death benefit of the two policies was $550,000.

Murder

At some point, Nathaniel Jackson (b. February 13, 1972 | age 51) began an affair with Roberts. In 2001, the affair was interrupted by Jackson's confinement in the Lorain Correctional Institution. While Jackson was in prison, he and Roberts exchanged numerous letters and spoke on the telephone. Prison authorities recorded many of their telephone conversations.

Passages from the letters and telephone calls indicated that the two plotted to murder Fingerhut. Jackson repeatedly pledged to kill Fingerhut upon Jackson's release from prison. In one letter, Jackson wrote, "Donna I don't care what you say but Robert has to go! An[d] I'm not gonna let you stop me this time." At Jackson's request, Roberts purchased a ski mask and a pair of gloves for Jackson to use during the murder. On the day before Jackson was released, he and Roberts had one final recorded conversation. Jackson told her, "I got to do this Donna. I got to." He also told Roberts his plan: "I just need to be in that house when he come home. * * * Baby it ain't gonna happen in the house."

Jackson was released on December 9, 2001. Roberts drove to Lorain to pick him up, spent that night with him in a motel, and spent much of the next two days with him as well. On December 11, 2001, Fingerhut was shot to death at his home.

When police responded to the crime scene, Roberts was hysterical and asked them to do whatever was necessary to catch the killer. She also reported that Fingerhut's car had been stolen. During a search of the house, the police found, in a dresser in the master bedroom, 145 handwritten letters and cards that Jackson had sent to Roberts. In the trunk of Roberts's car, the police found a bag with Jackson's name on it containing clothes and 139 letters that Roberts had sent to Jackson. On December 12, Fingerhut's car was found in Youngstown.

On December 21, 2001, Jackson was arrested at a friend's house in Youngstown. Jackson had a bandage around his left index finger at the time of his arrest. The police seized a pair of bloodstained gloves with the left index finger missing and a pair of tennis shoes from the house. The tread pattern on the shoes was consistent with a shoe print left in blood near Fingerhut's body.

During a subsequent police interview, Jackson said, "I just didn't mean to do it, man." He then related his version of what happened, essentially claiming that he shot Fingerhut in self-defense. Jackson claimed to have known Fingerhut for a couple of years. Jackson said that on the evening of December 11, he approached Fingerhut about getting a job at the Youngstown bus terminal. They met later that evening, and Jackson sold Fingerhut "some weed." He then asked Fingerhut if he could go to Fingerhut's house to "chill" before starting work the next day, and Fingerhut gave Jackson a ride to Fingerhut's home. According to Jackson, after they went inside the home, Fingerhut started making racial comments and other disparaging remarks toward him. Fingerhut then pulled a revolver, Jackson tried to grab it, and Fingerhut shot Jackson in the finger as Jackson reached for the gun. Jackson then took the gun from Fingerhut during the "tussle" and shot him twice. Jackson was unsure where the shots hit Fingerhut but said that Fingerhut was still breathing when Jackson fled the house and drove away in Fingerhut's car.

Fingerhut's autopsy showed that he had been shot three times, including a penetrating gunshot wound to the top of the head that was determined to be fatal. There was also a laceration between Fingerhut's left thumb and index finger, and further examination showed that the fatal bullet hit his hand before entering the top of his head. Gunshot residue on the body indicated that the distance from the muzzle of the firearm to the head wound was 24 inches or less.

Finally, expert testimony established that the DNA profile of bloodstains found inside Fingerhut's car and on its trunk-release lever matched Jackson's DNA profile.

In separate trials before the same judge, two juries separately convicted Nathaniel Jackson and Donna Roberts of capital murder and recommended death sentences for both. The trial judge, Judge Stuard, imposed death in both cases.ⁱ

• VIDEO: Donna Roberts and Her Lover Caught Trying to Kill Her Ex-Husband | Killer Couples Bonus – Oxygen | https://youtu.be/8_h0qSbSuVY

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