A woman who shot and killed her son hid his body behind a false wall in her home – and then pretended to be him to avoid capture.
Jerri Roby, 69, was jailed for life on Wednesday for the murder of John Gaither in Gulfport, Mississippi in December 2023.
The Gulfport Police Department opened a missing persons case that month after they were contacted by Gaither’s brother, who had not seen the 42-year-old for about a week.
Roby – who it later emerged had been convicted of another murder nearly 30 years ago – repeatedly lied to authorities about her son’s whereabouts as a search got underway.
Gaither’s body was eventually discovered by investigators a month later after they became suspicious of his mother’s shifting story and searched her home, Gulfport PD said. Autopsy records reviewed by WLOX showed the victim had been shot in the back of the head.
Roby initially told police her son had gone to Louisiana to buy a car in an Uber, WLOX reported, but his account showed no such journey.
As the search for Gaither continued, his father and stepmother received a letter claiming to be from him that said he had traveled to the Philippines to meet a woman, the outlet added.
Concerns deepened when Gaither’s brother and stepmother told authorities they had received suspicious text messages claiming to be from their missing loved one in early January 2024.
Cops decided to obtain a warrant after they learned Roby, also known as Isreal, had been arrested and convicted of murder in Florida around 1995.
“Detectives further discovered that Isreal committed the murder and subsequently made several attempts to dump the deceased subject at different locations throughout Florida,” Gulfport PD said in a January 2024 statement. “With this additional information, Detectives obtained a search warrant for the residence.
“On January 18, 2024, at approximately 10 a.m., Detectives and Crime Scene Technicians conducted a search of the residence.
“During the search of the residence, a wooden box containing a deceased subject, later identified as John Allen Gaither, was located behind a false wall.”
Investigators also found a receipt from Home Depot, which revealed she had purchased 15 bags of sand, two rolls of patch and seal tape, straw, and a dumpster bag, WLOX reported. The shopping trip had taken place a week before the missing persons report had been filed.
Roby swallowed pills as she was removed from the property by police, Gulfport PD spokesman Jason DuCré told CNN in 2024. She was rushed to hospital for treatment but later interviewed by police.
DuCré said Roby had tried to conceal her crime by forging notes to family members.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew D. Burrell, who prosecuted the case, said Roby admitted to sending the fake text messages, WLOX reported. She had also convinced her boyfriend to call family members while acting as if he was Gaither, the outlet added.
“Roby told investigators that Gaither shot himself in the back of the head, fell into the box, where she then covered him with the sand, dirt, and straw she purchased from Home Depot,” Burrell said.
She later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, claiming she had shot Gaither to put him “out of his misery” because he suffered from depression.
