To Catch A Killer

It Happened on March 27, 2015

Five Delaware State Policemen stood in my living room. My son was gone, twelve bullets gook his life; it was brutal, it was at close range, and he was never again coming back home.

He had fought on the front lines of Desert Storm. He started the ground war on his twentieth birthday in an artillery unit. He came home safely, by the grace of God, now, he lost his life brutally on the streets of Delaware.

Police Involvement

Law Enforcement told me they had a fifty percent chance of find the perpetrator.

That wasn't good enough for Mom.

A 65 Year Old Mother Plays Detective

I was striking out on my own. It was easy to do, led by my grief and emotions. I had my own murder board in my home. I made hand made flyers at first, with my son's picture and that I was seeking justice for my son's murder.

These flyers were asking for information on my son's murder.

When the police developed a suspect, I had flyers printed up of the accused killer.

I had my own informants, and I had my merchants, who joined my cause and allowed me to place flyers in the windows of their stores.

I used social media to spread the word. I had a massive Facebook campaign, with two profiles with five thousand followers each, that reached all fifty states, Canada and Mexico.

I recieved an overwhelming response from social media with over fifty inboxes a day, saying, "I downloaded the murderer's picture, what kind of car does he drive? I travel for a living."

I also posted on a formum called "Topix". Although it no longer exists, I posted in many cities throughout the United States.

Kent County Delaware Will Never Be The Same

At first, law enforcement didn't take me seriously and thought I would curtail my detective activities once I got it out of my system. However, they underestimated the grief of a mother whose son was her very best friend.

They also underestimated the resolve of a community, and the compassion of the entire state of Delaware. People indeed wondered if this tragedy could have happened to them.

They also did not imagine an entire community that would stand up in rage over this brutal murder of a young man they got to know through his family now searching for justice.

Finally A Suspect And Finally A Warrant

In the case of the burtal murder of Richard L Jacobs Jr, after ten months, there was finally a warrant. An arrest warrant was issued for Anthony McDonald , however McDonald was nowhere to be found.

The Delaware Police sergeant of Homicide for Kent County Delaware, visited the home of Anthony McDonald's mother and told her they had a warrant for her son's arrest. He gave her a week to let her son turn himself in, on a brutal murder charge. That never happened. When he called a week later to inquire of his mother, she told the police Sargent she forgot about it.

I actually thought to myself, although I did not verbalize it to the Sgt. "Why didn't you just buy him a bus ticket out of town"?

My Plan

I now had flyers printed of the accused murderer and posted them almost everywhere.

My goal was to leave him "nowhere to run- nowhere to hide".

My message in the park that he died, which I now call the "Park of Death", was this, "I know someone knows who murdered my son; please give them this message"

" I WILL NEVER STOP LOOKING FOR THEM"

Finally Justice For Richard

Two years and ten months after the brutal murder of Richard L Jacobs Jr, Anthony McDonad was found. His body washed up on the shore of a lake called Silver Lake in Dover, Delaware, deceased.

The official cause of death, per the US Marshas, was that Anthony McDonald took an overdose of drugs and fell into the lake.

Final Justice

No one will ever be hurt again by this disturbed individual. It takes a very sick individual who would shoot a human being down like he was a rabid dog. Now, no one else's child will be harmed by the vicious person.

When I felt like I wuold falter and give, up, I thought of my son and what he stood for. He worked hard at everyting he did and attmepted to do. I would ask myself, - if it was me who was shot down like a dog that night, "What would Rick do?"

The answer was clear: - I couldn't leave the job undone.

The Legacy That Was Left

When people would ask about my journey, I always tell people, "I hope my son would be proud of me, I certainly was proud of him".

I would like people to know each and every one of them, who have lost a child under horrific circumstances. "You Are Not Alone" --- "You Are Never Alone".

This article was published by my wife Susan Payton on Medium on June 15, 2024.