(Germantown, TN) A man accused of killing his wife appeared in Germantown court tonight.
Based on a recent mental evaluation, the judge ruled Chris Jones is fully competent to proceed to trial.
That’s exactly what friends of Heather Palumbo-Jones wanted to hear.
Heather’s friends didn’t hold back when it came to what they thought of Jones.
“There’s a monster inside that hurt our friend and we want justice,” Melissa Smith said. “We came to make sure that his court hearing said he was sane. We were very thankful for that.”
Jones was wearing plain, everyday clothes when he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
“He didn’t appear to have any kind of emotion whatsoever,” Blair Jones said.
“He needs to be in a jail jumpsuit and hand cuffs,” Jan Kline added.
Jones is accused of killing his wife after a fight in April. Investigators say the couple was going through a divorce when he killed her, burned her body, wrapped her in a mattress and then dumped her in a rural area in Shelby County.
Jones was charged with second-degree murder, which means police don’t think he planned the murder.
Now that the mental evaluation is complete, it will be up to a grand jury to decide if that will change.
“I think within a couple months he will be indicted. Question is, will it remain the same. I don’t know of any evidence that would up the charge to murder of the first degree. That’s certainly the decision of the District Attorney’s office.”
Heather’s friends say they’ll keep fighting until justice is served.
Jones remains in the Shelby County jail on $1 million bond.
