The widow and stepson of recently slain Ku Klux Klan leader Frank Ancona pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder and other charges related to his death.
Malissa Ancona, 44, and Paul Edward Jinkerson Jr., 24, both entered not-guilty pleas during a formal arraignment hearing this week held in connection with the man’s murder, local media reported.
Ancona, the self-described imperial wizard of the Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK, was reported missing Feb. 10. His remains were discovered the following afternoon near a river several miles from his home south of St. Louis, and an investigation ultimately led authorities to both his widow and her biological son.
Prosecutors questioned Ancona’s widow shortly afterward and secured a confession, according to charging documents. Ms. Ancona allegedly told investigators that her son had shot her husband while he was sleeping Feb. 9, and that she aided him afterwards in attempting to cover up the crime, according to a probable-cause statement filed earlier this month.
“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.
The mother and son were subsequently charged with first-degree murder in addition to other felony counts including armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
They both pleaded not guilty across the board Tuesday before Associate Circuit Judge Joseph Goff Jr. and were ordered to appear in St. Francois County Circuit Court on March 17 for a preliminary hearing, Missouri’s Daily Journal reported.
Ancona’s lawyer, Wayne Williams, declined to comment when contacted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this week.
“I try the case in the courtroom and she enjoys the presumption of innocence,” he said Tuesday.
Ancona’s abrupt disappearance and murder made headlines given his reputation for having led for years the Traditionalist American Knights, a hate group that considers itself to be a “White Patriotic Christian organization that bases its roots back to the Ku Klux Klan of the early 20th century.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights watchdog, reported in its annual Intelligence Report earlier this month that 130 unique factions of the KKK are currently in existence.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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