The wife and stepson of Frank Ancona, the “imperial wizard” of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, were charged with his murder Monday, two days after his remains were discovered near a river in rural Missouri.
Mr. Ancona, 51, was reported missing Friday and found dead the following afternoon from a gunshot wound to the head. His wife and her biological son were arrested separately over the weekend and formally charged Monday morning with multiple counts related to his death.
Malissa Ann Ancona, 44, and her son, Paul Edward Jinkerson Jr., 24, both face charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse, St. Francois County Prosecutor Jarrod Mahurin said Monday.
They were being held in jail without bond and expected to be arraigned as early as Tuesday, Mr. Mahurin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Ms. Ancona told authorities that her son shot her husband while he was sleeping early Thursday at their resident in Leadwood, south of St. Louis, and assisted him afterwards in attempting to cover up the crime, according to a probable cause statement.
“Ms. Ancona admitted that she failed to report the crime and additionally attempted to destroy blood evidence and altered the crime scene in an attempt to conceal the offense and was acting in concert with her son,” the statement said.
“From the evidence we have she was an active participant all the way through, although the evidence we have is that he would have been the one who actually pulled the trigger.” Mr. Mahurin told St. Louis’s CBS affiliate.
Mr. Ancona was first reported missing Friday, and his automobile was located that evening in a remote part of nearby Washington County. His wife initially told investigators that she had last seen her husband Wednesday morning before eventually offering a different story to interviewers.
“They found multiple video from different places that showed where she was and who she was with and it just did not match up with her story at all,” Mr. Mahurin said.
Mr. Jinkerson was arrested on an unrelated warrant over the weekend prior to being formally charged Monday in Mr. Ancona’s death, authorities said.
Mr. Ancona boasted for years of being the imperial wizard of the Traditionalist Knights, a KKK faction devoted to preserving “the blood purity, integrity, cultural, and traditions of the White Christian Race in America,” according to its website.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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