Police say Cedar Rapids man accused of 3 murders didn’t ask them to leave during his medical treatment

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two Cedar Rapids police officers testified Wednesday that Alexander Jackson, charged with killing his parents and sister, didn’t ask them to leave the ambulance or hospital room when he was being treated for a gunshot injury to his foot.

Officer Timothy Brown said he rode in the ambulance from Jackson’s home in northeast Cedar Rapids to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital.

Linn County prosecutors are seeking access to Jackson’s medical records and comments he made to medical personnel the day he was being treated for a gunshot wound.

Jackson’s attorneys are resisting, arguing medical records are privileged and protected by law, leading to the Wednesday hearing before Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson, who will rule on the question.

Brown said Wednesday that police were called to the Jackson home in northeast Cedar Rapids on June 15, where they found three Jackson family members fatally shot: the father, Jan Jackson, 61; the mother, Melissa Jackson, 68; and the daughter, Sabrina Jackson, 19.

Jackson, 20, a Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School graduate and student at the University of Iowa, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

He was not at Wednesday’s hearing and remains in the Linn County Jail under a $3 million cash-only bail.

Jackson told police the day of the slayings that he’d been awakened by the sound of gunfire and was shot in the foot as he struggled over a rifle with a masked intruder.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter asked Brown if ambulance personnel said they wouldn't treat Jackson if police weren't with them. Brown said no.

She asked if Jackson had asked Brown to leave. He said no.

Brown said there is a recording of what happened in the ambulance and at the hospital because he was wearing a body camera.

On cross-examination by one of Jackson’s attorney, Tyler Johnston, Brown said during the ambulance ride he didn’t know if Jackson’s story about an intruder was true or not. He admitted to having no “proof” it wasn’t true.

At the hospital

Cedar Rapids police Investigator Matt Denlinger said he went to Jackson’s hospital room and that Brown went into the hallway, leaving his body camera in the room. Denlinger said he and at least one other officer stayed in the room during Jackson’s treatment.

On cross-examination, Denlinger said he read Jackson his Miranda rights at the beginning of his interview, in case Jackson went from being a victim to a suspect.

Johnston asked if Denlinger read Jackson his rights under the HIPAA-patient’s right to privacy regarding health information.

Denlinger said no. It’s not his job to inform a suspect of those rights. Jackson, he said, did ask or “invite” the police to investigate the slayings when he reported the shootings.

Slaughter and Johnston submitted written briefs to the judge, who gave them until July 7 to add responses to arguments.

Prosecutors also filed a motion asking the court to give them access to Jackson’s college transcripts, but that motion wasn’t discussed in open court.

Criminal complaint

Jackson called 911, telling the dispatcher he and his father had been shot by a masked intruder. Officers arrived at the Jackson home, 4414 Oak Leaf Ct. NE, at 8:30 a.m. to find the three family members had been fatally shot multiple times.

Investigators found no evidence of forced entry or burglary at the home, according to the criminal complaint.

They found a 22-caliber Browning semi-automatic rifle in the home that police believe is the murder weapon. Jackson said he and his father had left it on the fireplace after cleaning it the night before, the complaint stated.

A prosecutor, during Jackson’s initial court appearance, said Jackson “concocted” the story of a masked intruder to cover up the “execution” of his family.

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