Malissa Ann Ancona, and her 24-year-old stepson, Paul Edward Jinkerson Jr, have been charged with first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and abandonment of a corpse in the death of Ku Klux Klan leader Frank Ancona.
This past Saturday, Ancona's body was found near the Big River in Missouri by a family who was fishing in the area. An autopsy report revealed that the self-proclaimed "leader of the invisible empire" died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
St. Francois County Sheriff's Department detective Matt Wampler is claiming that Frank's body was transported in Jinkerson’s vehicle about 20 miles from the couple's home in Leadwood to a place near Belgrade, Missouri. Hours before Frank's death, Malissa shared a post on Facebook about needing a new roommate; however, Police Chief William Dickey told the St. Louis Daily Journal that his wife wrote the post because her husband stated he was filing for a divorce.
Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen indicated that after Frank had disappeared, his 2015 black Ford Fusion was found by a U.S. Forest Service employee on Forest Service property near where the body was discovered. When authorities searched Ancona's home, his safe had been broken into and everything inside was removed, while several of his guns were missing as well.
Jinkerson’s attorney, Eric Barnhart, maintains that "he [doesn't] believe his client was involved in the killing." It remains unclear if Malissa currently has an attorney. Both are in jail, and being held without a bond.
