Judge rejects death penalty challenge in 4 Nebraska killings

A Nebraska judge has rejected a challenge to the death penalty in the case of a man charged in the killings of four people last summer in a small town in the northeastern corner of the state. Judge Bryan Meismer says the lawyers representing 42-year-old Jason Jones didn’t prove that Nebraska’s death penalty law is unconstitutional, and it’s too soon to determine if that penalty is appropriate because it is still early in the process. Jones yet to officially enter a plea. Jones is charged with arson, weapons counts and four counts of first-degree murder in the August killings of 53-year-old Michele Ebeling; 86-year-old Gene Twiford and his 85-year-old wife, Janet Twiford; and their 55-year-old daughter Dana Twiford.