Entitled Live-In Caregiver Kills to Keep the House — Then Lies to Police

Watch this police interrogation with intense raw interrogation from the interrogation room as police conduct a full interrogation of a suspect. This raw interrogation footage captures every moment of the suspect interview, complete with deception detection techniques, and criminal psychology in true JCS style interrogation. WATCH HER FULL SECOND INTERROGATION HERE: https://youtu.be/MlyUo8s27Mw The Background Key people: Aline Jones (also known as Aline Wittekind), age 44, of Sequim, Washington; live-in caregiver for Raymond Rhodes (age 93). Susan M. Ferrel (also spelled Ferrell in some reports), age 65, of Nevada, daughter of Rhodes. Clinton Jones, Aline’s former boyfriend (lives in Florida; shares children with her). Relationships: Jones provided live-in care for Rhodes at his Diamond Point home (near Sequim, Clallam County). Rhodes died on October 14, 2023. Shortly before (September 28), Rhodes filed a quitclaim deed transferring the house at 300 North Street to Aline Jones and Clinton Jones. Ferrel traveled from Nevada after her father’s death to handle estate matters and was staying nearby while visiting/cleaning the home. Motive (as claimed and investigated): Dispute over the property transfer. Jones stated Ferrel discovered the quitclaim deed and living will among Rhodes’s belongings, became enraged, and attacked her. Investigators and court proceedings treated the property interest as central; Jones had continued living in the home after Rhodes’s death. The Crime Date and location: October 26, 2023, at the Diamond Point residence (300 block of North Street) of the late Raymond Rhodes in Clallam County, Washington. Details: Jones admitted striking Ferrel three times in the head with a hammer (and references to a screwdriver appear in charging documents), causing death. She claimed self-defense after Ferrel allegedly attacked first with the hammer upon finding the deed/will documents upstairs while cleaning. Calculated actions/tampering afterward: Jones cut out a bloodstained section of carpet, used stain remover, bagged the bloody hammer/screwdriver and Ferrel’s possessions, shredded the quitclaim deed and living will (which had blood spots), disposed of evidence by throwing items from a vehicle along Highway 101, took and later abandoned Ferrel’s rental car, discarded Ferrel’s purse in a ditch to suggest robbery, dragged the body and rolled it off an elevated patio, and placed a concrete block near the head to stage a fall. She then went to a casino , ate, gambled, returned later, and cleaned a car floor mat with blood on it at a gas station. The Investigation Discovery: On the evening of October 26, 2023, Clallam County deputies responded to a welfare check and found Ferrel’s body in the yard between the house and a motorhome. The death was treated as suspicious; the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team assisted. Suspect behavior: Jones initially told detectives she had been at the house earlier to clean and then left for work. On October 28, after her ex-boyfriend Clinton Jones contacted authorities reporting her admission, Jones contacted detectives, admitted lying in her first statement, and confessed to the killing (claiming self-defense in a “kill or be killed” situation). She detailed the cover-up efforts. Key evidence: Drag marks on the upstairs patio above the body location; cut-out carpet with blood underneath and stain remover nearby; missing rental car; purse recovered from a ditch; security video of Jones cleaning a bloody car mat; physical examination of Jones showing no defensive wounds consistent with a mutual fight. Charging documents referenced the hammer, screwdriver, shredded documents, and staging. Inconsistencies: Initial denial/false statements to law enforcement versus later confession and detailed admissions of evidence tampering and body concealment. Lack of defensive injuries on Jones undermined the self-defense claim. Conviction and Sentencing Charges (filed November 1, 2023, Clallam County Superior Court): Second-degree murder with deadly weapon enhancement; motor vehicle theft; plus gross misdemeanors for false/misleading statements to a public servant, multiple counts of tampering with physical evidence (weapon, documents, clothing), and removal/concealment of a body. Bail set at $500,000. Jones initially pleaded not guilty (November 2023); a tentative trial date was set but did not proceed to full trial. Plea and verdict: Jones pleaded guilty on March 26, 2024, to second-degree murder of Susan M. Ferrel with a deadly weapon enhancement. Sentencing: On or about May 7, 2024 (reported May 8), Clallam County Superior Court Judge Simon Barnhart sentenced Jones to the maximum under the state’s Sentencing Reform Act range—20 years and 4 months in prison, plus 3 years of community custody. The judge rejected a negotiated 20-year deal (with credit for time served) after hearing victim impact statements, citing the callousness of the acts and cover-up.