In the end, prosecutors didn't pursue the death penalty against the trio charged: Andre Jackson, Samuel Sims and Jackie McConnell. But Jackson has now been convicted and faces life without the possibility of parole -- and the fate of the other two men should be determined soon. Details below.
See also: Andre Jackson among trio busted for Jacqueline Gallegos's shocking cold-case murder
Here's the personal story about the Gallegos case as shared on the invaluable website Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons:Jacqueline Collette Gallegos, 28, graduated from Great Bend (KS) High School. Next to the oldest of seven children, she loved music, dancing and being with friends. Jackie liked to write poetry and was a fantastic artist drawing caricatures and animals. She was the devoted mother of five children: Anthony, Luis, Robert, Monique and Lorena. Jackie was outgoing and would "take in the underdog anytime," according to her mother, Linda Atz. On July 12, 1994, Jackie was visiting at a friend's home when, according to a witness, intruders posing as federal agents forced their way into the house. Jackie was bound, raped and sodomized; they cut her throat and stabbed her over 30 times. Another person was also killed but the one they were apparently after survived. No one has ever been apprehended for this crime.As we reported in our previous post, the indictment against Jackson (nicknamed "Dre"), Sims (known as "Sparky") and McConnell provides more information, much of it brutal. The complete document is on view below, but here are the disturbing details.
About 4:30 a.m. on July 12 [the mention of "June" is a misprint], the indictment says Denver police officers and paramedics from Denver Health arrived at 3234 Larimer Street to find a man named Mack Martinez lying in the entryway of the home. His ankles were bound and he was badly hurt.
Further inside, they discovered two more people: Nelson Swiggett and Gallegos. Swiggett's ankles were also bound, and he had suffered multiple stab wounds. Gallegos, for her part, was found lying naked in a bedroom with what was described as "a sharp force injury to her throat."
Both Swiggett and Gallegos died of their injuries, but Martinez, described as a "suspected drug dealer," survived and was able to tell police what happened. According to him, five or six intruders -- one with a shotgun -- forced their way into the home at about 3 a.m. Their faces were covered and they wore dark clothes.
The men ordered Martinez into the bedroom and demanded money and drugs -- and their methods of persuasion were severe. After his eyes were covered, he's said to have been tied up and tortured with a wire hanger and a knife, with the latter being used to make a cut on his throat.
Gallegos was in the same room, and Martinez said that as he was being abused, he could hear three male voices and the sound of her being sexually assaulted.
Swiggett was in another part of the house. Martinez recalled hearing him "being beaten and begging for his life," the indictment says.
Continue for more on Andre Jackson's conviction in Jacqueline Gallegos's murder, including additional photos and the indictment. After the men left, allegedly with jewelry, a watch, cash from his wallet, plus a TV and stereo equipment, Martinez was able to make it to the front door, where he saw a passerby and asked him to call 911.
During the investigation, the indictment cites witnesses who pointed to all three of the men charged in the crime. One person told cops McConnell had talked about being present in the house but denying that he'd personally killed anyone; rather, he said he'd only "poked people with a coat hanger."
A second witness quotes McConnell as having confessed to witnessing a rape -- and wishing that he'd left.Other witnesses recalled Jackson talking about his participation in the robbery. He supposedly denied having taken part in the sexual assault: He claimed Sims was the person who'd raped and then killed Gallegos. However, Jackson allegedly admitted to stabbing "at least one of the people in the house," the indictment states.
And Sims? Multiple witnesses told the authorities that he'd shared an account of the night's activities with them -- including that he'd "stabbed people and cut people's throats."
The evidence noted in the indictment doesn't end there. The document reveals that DNA profiles were developed for Sims and Jackson and then compared with material from Gallegos's original sexual-assault kit, which suggested that two or more individuals had raped her. A DNA profile obtained from sperm on a vaginal swab matched Sims; the odds against the random selection of an unrelated individual are "estimated to be less than 1 in 8.9 trillion," the document says.
Jackson, too, scored a match, albeit one with considerably less certainty -- a "1 in 110,000" chance of misidentification, the indictment allows.
McConnell isn't mentioned in the DNA portion of the filing, suggesting that he was telling the truth about not taking part in Gallegos's rape. Nonetheless, he was charged with what the Denver District Attorney's Office dubbed "multiple charges" of first-degree murder, plus one attempted-murder count. Jackson and Sims were handed the same, plus a sexual-assault accusation.
After all three were put behind bars, McConnell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He's set for sentencing in October. In contrast, Jackson went to trial, and a jury has now found him guilty on all the charges leveled against him: four counts apiece of first-degree murder and sexual assault, as well as attempted murder.
As for Sims, he's slated to appear in court next month. The accusations against him include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and sexual assault.
Look below to see booking photos of Jackson, McConnell and Sims, followed by the indictment.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
