Audio By Carbonatix
On December 15, 2009, then-52-year-old Kenneth Jackson drove from his home in San Diego to Phoenix Police Headquarters to confess to a 1988 murder. Yesterday, he learned his fate.
Jackson was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of 78-year-old Marlin Darton in November of 1988.
Police weren’t closing in on him, or anything. Jackson told detectives the guilt was eating away at him.
In 1988, Jackson was a drug addict. He told police that a few days
before Thanksgiving, he went to Darton’s Phoenix home to rob him for
drug money. He ended up violently bludgeoning Darton to death and
stealing $100 from his wallet.
After the murder, Jackson left the Valley and settled in California,
where he kicked drugs and got his life together. At the time of his
confession, Jackson was working with at-risk kids in San Diego.
Jackson told police he lived with the guilt of murdering Darton the
entire time he was free. He says, he confessed the murder to his dying
father, who told him to “get back to church and fix this.”
In court on Wednesday, the Darton’s grandson, Marlon, reportedly told Jackson,
“I just want Mr. Jackson to know that we have forgiven him and I know
that the time you were out free that you really weren’t free, I believe
that you were going through hell.”
