"Shocking Family Tragedy: Brother-in-Law's Hidden Two-Month Killing Spree Claims Sister and Four Kids"

WHEN Sarah Gilbert was informed that her beloved sister had been murdered, she let out the most horrendous scream. Then, as her world fell apart, came a second gut-wrenching phone call.

Not only had Casei Chris Jones’ demonic husband slaughtered her in their home, he had also killed her four children – including two of his own – in the days that followed. All the while, he pulled the wool over Sarah’s eyes by sending her cruel fake messages as he scrambled to cover up the bone-chilling spree.

Growing up together, Sarah (right) looked at her sister Casei (left) like her own childCredit: True Life Stories Casei fell in love with Michael when she was 28, in 2015Credit: True Life Stories Casei had two sons, Cameron and Preston, from a previous marriage, and two daughters, Mercalli and Aiyanna, with MichaelCredit: True Life Stories

Sarah, 41, from Indiana, explains her younger sister, Casei, 31, was more like a daughter to her when they were growing up, before they became best friends later in life.

But in July 2019, she learned that Casei and her children – Cameron, nine; Preston, four; Mercalli, two; and Aiyanna, one – were all over a two-month period, before their decomposing corpses were eventually found.

The family massacre had gone undetected as Michael Wayne Jones Jr, 45, had sent Sarah messages from Casei’s phone and uploaded photos and statuses on , pretending to be her sister.

was sentenced to the death penalty in 2023 and had his appeal rejected in July 2025.

Now, making an emotional call for survivors of domestic abuse to “get help and get out”, Sarah tells The Sun of her gut-wrenching grief – and why she was left furious after hearing her sister’s murderer had been sentenced to death.

Sarah, a stay-at-home mum, says: “I adored my younger sister and her kids. We were very close.

“When I found out, I felt my world stop. I didn’t think it could be real.

“We’d trusted him. They seemed like the perfect couple. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

Growing up together, Sarah looked at her sister like her own child.

She says: “Our mum was absent growing up so I’d practically raised Casei. She always felt like my baby.

“With her bubbly, sparkling personality, she became my best friend when we were adults.

“I even named my first child, Casey, a boy, after her. I was honoured.”

Later in life, Sarah had a family – Casey, 21; Zara, 20; Lohgun, 16 and Kamlyn, 13 and her sister, Casei, had a family of her own too.

Sarah says: “Initially, she was married to her high school sweetheart aged 18. They had two sons, Preston and Cameron.

“But years on, they spilt up. Then in 2015, when Casei was 28, she fell in love with Michael.

“He was her work colleague as they were both veterinary assistants.

“Michael, who had an ex-wife and kids of his own, was incredible with Casei’s boys.

“He instantly became their father. They had two children of their own soon after, my little nieces, Mercalli and Ayianna.”

Michael Wayne Jones Jr was sentenced to death over the sickening spreeCredit: wcjb.com The family minivan where Casei’s body was found in the backCredit: True Life Stories The house where the family were killedCredit: True Life Stories

After two years together, in 2017, Casei and Jones Jr married. Sarah says her family and theirs were very close.

She explains: “We loved to have BBQs together. I’d always play with my nieces and nephews, they meant the world to me.

“Michael and Casei were always joking, laughing and kissing. Michael would even open the door for her.

“I always thought how he was such a hands-on father. He changed their nappies, made the kids’ plates, played games.

“Especially as Cameron and Preston were autistic and needed a lot of extra support. Michael couldn’t do enough for them.

“I used to tease my fiancé at the time, telling him ‘Why can’t you be more like Michael?’

“He was like this perfect husband.

“Years later they relocated to our hometown in . It was a 19-hour drive away and I really missed them.

“Our mum and our other sister Brandi lived there still.”

‘Screaming about stabbing everyone’

Despite the distance, Sarah spoke to her sister on the phone daily, always looking forward to their next visits.

In May 2019, Casei, then a stay-at-home mum, Jones Jr, a construction worker, and their kids visited Sarah – as well as their dad, who lived near them in Indiana.

Jones Jr with the four children: Preston, Mercalli, Cameron and AiyannaCredit: True Life Stories Casei was beaten to death with her son’s metal baseball batCredit: True Life Stories

Sarah says: “We had a family bonfire party and were laughing and hanging out like normal.

“But I was tired and went to sleep early. The next day, I was planning on spending more time with Casei and the kids.

“But I found out they’d left Dad’s in the night. I found out there’d been an argument between Casei and Michael at Dad’s.

“Michael was intoxicated and screaming about stabbing everyone.

“Casei was seen holding him back, trying to calm him. I was really shocked as I’d never witnessed or even heard of them fighting before.

“When I quizzed Casei about it, she brushed it off. She insisted it ‘wasn’t that’ and it was ‘blown out of proportion.’

“I thought it was odd, but I took her word for it.”

The most horrendous scream escaped my lungs

Sarah

Things seemed normal to Sarah until July came around, two months later, and Casei suddenly went quiet.

Sarah had received no calls and no messages. She kept reaching out but had no response, which was out of character.

Jones Jr posed as Casei on her Facebook and changed her name to ‘Princess Casei’Credit: True Life Stories The sick killer hid his wife’s death for monthsCredit: True Life Stories

Sarah says: “I thought, she must be sick. Or really busy. But it wasn’t like Casei.

“I finally had a few replies. ‘Hey I’m fine. I’m sick. My bak [sic] hurts.’

“It seemed odd. I kept receiving the odd message, here and there. For Preston’s 4th birthday, she re-posted an old birthday post.

“Casei was huge on birthdays. Every year, she’d make a huge collage for each of the kids on Facebook.

“Then in September, on my birthday, I didn’t hear from her. And on Cameron’s 10th birthday the same month, she posted nothing too.

“At this point, I knew something was seriously wrong. Things got even more bizarre when her Facebook name changed from ‘Casei Jones’ to ‘Princess Casei.’

“I began calling family. Everyone had received the odd message, but no one had seen her face-to-face.

“My cousin heard from my mum that Michael had collected the girls from hers, and said Casei had a cold at home. Alarms bells rang for me.”

World crumbles

Worried sick, Sarah called the police in Florida, requesting a welfare check on her sister as no one had seen her in two months.

The following day, she received a call that would change her life forever.

She says: “It was our mum. I hadn’t spoken to her in 11 years.

“She broke the news that Casei was dead. Michael had been arrested crashing his car, and Casei’s body was in the back.

“The most horrendous scream escaped my lungs. I kept screaming how they were all wrong.

“Just when I thought my world had seriously crumbled, I got another call in the early morning.

“The police told us that all the babies weren’t okay either. I heard the officer get emotional and fall to the ground.

“I felt sick. The shock was paralyzing. I was hysterical.”

Sarah learned that her sister, her nephews and nieces had all been brutally murdered by Jones Jr.

And slowly over the coming months, the truth emerged.

Sarah says: “Back at the start of July, when Casei had gone quiet, her and Michael had an argument at home.

“He’d beat her to death with Preston’s metal baseball bat whilst the kids were asleep upstairs.

“Michael put Casei’s body in a tote bag, and hid her in their bedroom closest upstairs.

“He then continued living with the children as normal, telling them Mum was sick.”

For the next month, Jones Jr impersonated Sarah’s sister on Facebook, pretending to be her and replying to messages from the family.

Weeks after Casei’s murder, the killer dropped off Cameron and Preston at their dad’s to stay.

Days after, he dropped Mercalli and Aiyanna to stay at Sarah and Casei’s mum’s house.

Sarah with her nephew, PrestonCredit: TRUE LIFE STORIES

Sarah says: “The next month, Michael collected the boys again and they lived with him like normal.

“But as the school year was beginning soon, he panicked. He pulled Cameron out of bed in the night, and strangled him to death on the floor.

“Then he put him in a suitcase next to his mum’s body in the closet.

“The next day he used a zip-tie on Preston and drowned him in the bathtub, putting him in a tote bag in the closet.

“Later that week, Michael collected the girls from their grandma’s.

“At the end of that month, he drove to the police station, and sat in the car with the girls ready to hand himself in.

“He changed his mind, went home, and drowned both them in the bathtub.

“He placed all five bodies in Casei’s minivan, and drove to stay with his ex-wife and kids.

“For the next fortnight, he lived with them, pretending his family was alive at home.”

Chilling confession

After hearing about the welfare check on Casei, Jones Jr dumped his four children’s bodies in a woodland.

And the next month, he had a collision with another car.

When the police arrived, they smelt a body. Jones Jr admitted to having Casei’s body in the back.

He took the police directly to the woodland for the children’s bodies.

During interviews, he claimed he had been sick of his wife’s “constant nagging” and it “all became too much”.

He claimed he killed the kids because he wanted to “wipe out her existence and her bloodline”.

I want to warn women who are struggling with domestic violence to talk to someone

Sarah

Sarah says: “Hearing it all broke me. I couldn’t bear to think of my sister and my poor nephew and nieces’ pain.

“Why did he have to kill them too? They were just children. I suffered from … I’d envision their horrific deaths.

“I thought Michael was the best husband and dad. I didn’t understand.

“It wasn’t a quick shooting. It was the brutality. He put them all through pure torture.

“Especially little Cameron, who struggled the longest. It was unfathomable.

“When he’d murdered Aiyanna it was her first birthday.

“Then after killing them, in August and September, it was supposed to be Preston and Cameron’s birthdays too. They never made it to 10 and 5.

“Whilst I was grieving, I looked back at the online conversations with Casei, realising it was all Michael.

“I spotted spelling errors and felt guilt-ridden for not spotting it sooner. For years I was in a very dark place.

“I didn’t understand how the universe, or God, could let those children die.”

Sarah fears Jones Jr was abusing Casei before the killingsCredit: True Life Stories

In 2021 both the sister’s parents passed away. The trial had not taken place yet and Sarah felt she was the only voice left for her sister.

In December 2022, she faced the killer in court. Jones Jr, now 45, pleaded guilty to four counts of murder. He was sentenced to death.

Sarah says: “During the trial I felt intense anger. I wanted to knock him out. But he didn’t dare look at me.

“Hearing how he’d be put to death made me furious. I didn’t agree.

“He’d be put to sleep like a family pet. Yet my sister, nieces and nephews didn’t have those rights to die peacefully.

“Why did he get to? I wished he’d rot in prison until he’s old. And be played with aggressively, getting his karma.

“Before then, I’d never wished harm on another person. I knew every human was capable of snapping, especially husbands killing wives.

“But what he did to those kids too, I would never understand.”

In July 2025, Jones Jr lost an appeal against his sentence.

Sarah says: “Now, I try to stay strong and do right by my sister every day. She was an incredible mum who loved her children.

“Preston, Cameron, Mercalli and Aiyanna were incredibly special too. They were polite and had little hearts of gold.

“I’m still unsure if Michael was abusing Casei and if she hid it well.

“So I want to warn women who are struggling with domestic violence to talk to someone.

“Don’t make excuses for them. Get help and get out. If Casei did, maybe they’d all be alive.”