Bio

Luther Jones was born on February 12, 1904 in Amboy, Indiana. Before the 1936 killings, Jones had already developed a long criminal history. Records and historical accounts describe him as having served prison sentences in both Indiana and Montana. He was released from the Montana State Penitentiary shortly before the murders. After leaving prison, he traveled through Utah and Nevada, where his criminal activity quickly continued.

Six days after his release from prison in Montana, Jones forced a taxi driver at gunpoint to drive him to Montello, Nevada. He released the driver but kept the cab. The stolen vehicle later broke down near Elko, and Jones had it taken into town for repairs. Around the same period, he also passed a bad ten-dollar check in Elko.

On October 16, 1936, Jones was arrested in Carlin, Nevada, after a pistol fell from his pocket while he was playing cards at Max Sperlich’s Saloon. A bystander alerted the night constable, and Jones was subdued with help from people inside the saloon. He was first taken into custody for resisting an officer, but police soon connected him to a stolen vehicle and then to four missing men near Elko.

Murder Story

In October 1936, shortly after his release from the Montana State Penitentiary, Luther Jones arrived in northeastern Nevada. After stealing a taxi and passing a bad check, he made his way into the Elko area. On October 16, 1936, he saw three men near the stockyards outside Elko and decided to rob them.

The three men were Manuel Arrascada, Walter Godecke, and Otto Heitman. Jones approached them with a .22 caliber pistol and took approximately $40 from them. He then forced the men toward a small shack near a stand of willows. Inside or near the shack was Johnny Elias, an elderly man with an artificial leg who lived near the stockyards. Jones forced Elias to help tie up the other men.

According to Jones’ later confession, the situation changed when Elias resisted as Jones attempted to bind him. Jones shot Elias in the head. After Elias fell, one of the other men cried out for help. Jones then shot Arrascada, Heitman, and Godecke. He covered the bodies with clothing, shut the shack door, placed wood in front of it, and left the area. He later hitchhiked to Carlin, where he was arrested before the bodies had been found.

After Jones was jailed, investigators were still searching for the missing men. A railroad official reported seeing Jones walking away from the corral area with three men. When officers questioned Jones in jail, he admitted to stealing the vehicle, passing the bad check, and killing the four men. He gave detailed directions to the shack where the bodies were located.

Law enforcement officers later found the bodies inside the shack. The victims had been shot multiple times. Arrascada, Heitman, and Godecke had been bound, while Elias had been killed after resisting. Jones was charged and tried for the murder of Walter Godecke, one of the victims killed during the robbery. Historical execution records list the victims as Manuel Arrascada, Walter Godecke, Otto Heitman, and John Elias.

During the trial, Jones initially tried to withdraw from his confession and blamed another man named Bert Wilson. Witness testimony contradicted that claim. Witnesses placed Jones alone before and after the killings, and a hardware clerk testified that Jones had purchased a gun earlier in the week. Jones later changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming he suffered memory problems and severe headaches. The jury rejected that defense and convicted him of first-degree murder.

On November 23, 1936, Judge James Dysart sentenced Luther Jones to death by lethal gas at Nevada State Prison in Carson City. The following day, he was transferred to the prison. His execution took place only a little over three months after the murders.

Jones was executed in Nevada’s gas chamber on January 26, 1937. He entered the chamber at approximately 6:10 a.m. When asked for a final statement, he reportedly said, “I would like to take the sheriff with me.” He was pronounced dead after the gas execution. Historical execution listings confirm that he was executed in Nevada by gas chamber on January 26, 1937, at age 32.