Jack Wayne Reeves (born June 20, 1940) is currently serving a ninety-nine year

prison sentence In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for multipl ...

for

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ing his second and fourth wives.

Early life

Reeves was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on June 20, 1940. He retired from the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1985.

First wife

Reeves' first marriage was at 18 to a 15-year-old. The marriage was

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

in 1960.

Manslaughter

Reeves married Sharon Vaughn in 1961. In 1967, while stationed with his wife in Italy, Reeves killed a man and served four months in prison for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

. After his release, the couple returned to the United States and settled in

Copperas Cove, Texas Copperas Cove is a city located in central Texas at the southern corner of Coryell County with smaller portions in Lampasas and Bell counties. Founded in 1879 as a small ranching and farming community, today the city is the largest in Coryell C ...

Second wife

Reeves was married to his second wife Sharon Vaughn for 18 years. They had two sons, Ricky and Randall, while in Italy. In 1977, Sharon pursued an extramarital relationship with John Behneman. She filed for divorce in February 1978 while Reeves was stationed in South Korea. On July 20, 1978, a week after divorcing Reeves, she died of a shotgun wound to her chest that was originally believed to be self-inflicted. The case was re-examined in 1994 and it was determined that she had been murdered. The prosecution demonstrated in court how difficult it would have been for her to shoot herself. A

blood spatter Blood squirt (blood spurt, blood spray, blood gush, or blood jet) is the effect when an artery is ruptured. Blood pressure causes the blood to bleed out at a rapid, intermittent rate in a spray or jet, coinciding with the pulse, rather than the s ...

expert concluded that Sharon had been wearing a bra and underwear at the time of her death, but when her body was found, she was completely naked. She was 34.

Third wife

Reeves married Myeong-Hi Chong on Dec. 31, 1980 in South Korea. She drowned in Lake Whitney in Texas in 1986. Her family said Myeong-Hi was unable to swim and had a strong aversion to water. Bruises on Myeong-Hi’s face made her sister suspicious and she requested an autopsy. Reeves had Myeong-Hi

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

Fourth wife

Reeves met his fourth wife, Emilita Villa, through a

mail-order bride A mail-order bride is a woman who lists herself in catalogs and is selected by a man for marriage. In the twentieth century, the trend was primarily towards women living in developing countries seeking men in more developed nations. The majority ...

service when she was 18. Reeves was 28 years her senior. Emilita was reportedly reluctant to marry him, but felt obligated due to monthly payments Reeves sent to her family in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. When Emilita became pregnant, Reeves sent her back to her family as he did not believe he was the father. He changed his mind when she sent him a photograph of their son. She was last seen alive October 11, 1994. She disappeared shortly after telling friends she intended to divorce Reeves. In October 1995, her remains were found by a hunter in a shallow grave near Lake Whitney, where Reeves' third wife had drowned eight years previously.

Investigation and arrest

Emilita's friend reported her missing. The police became suspicious when they found out Reeves had two dead wives, both of whom died after making plans to leave Reeves and after complaining to friends about being mistreated by Reeves. He was arrested on March 21, 1995, for the murder of his second wife and his bail was set at $500,000.

Trial

He was convicted on January 3, 1996, for the 1978 murder of Sharon Reeves and received a 35-year prison sentence. On August 20, 1996, he was

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is consid ...

of murdering Emilita Reeves and sentenced to an additional 99 years. Reeves appealed against both convictions; his

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

s were rejected. His sentences are being served concurrently. He will be eligible for

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

in 2026.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Jack 1940 births 1967 crimes in Italy 1967 murders in Italy 1978 murders in the United States 1986 murders in the United States 1994 murders in the United States 20th-century criminals 20th-century murders in the United States American people convicted of manslaughter American serial killers Living people Male serial killers People convicted of murder by Texas People from Wichita Falls, Texas Uxoricides