frank ancona, a KKK imperial wizard, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head near the Missouri river on Saturday, and now his wife and stepson face charges for his apparent murder.
The discovery of the body
According to the Daily Journal Online, 51-year-old Frank Ancona, of Leadwood, was found dead in Belgrade, Missouri on Saturday by a family who was fishing in the area. Washington County coroner Brian DeClue told The Kansas City Star that Frank's autopsy revealed that he had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Frank had reportedly gone missing on Thursday, and hadn't been seen since, until his body was discovered over the weekend.
Washington County Sheriff Zach Jacobsen said an employee from the Federal Forestry Service had seen Ancona's vehicle, a 2015 black Ford Fusion, on a forestry service road on Friday off of Route P in Potosi.
Wife & stepson of KKK Imperial Wizard Frank Ancona charged w/1st degree murder in his death. #kmov pic.twitter.com/VdGVh8tpyL
— Russell Kinsaul (@russellkinsaul) February 13, 2017
"We left deputies at the scene and secured it overnight due to the loss of light," Jacobsen explained. "On Saturday morning we conducted a search of the area by foot by member of the Potosi Fire Protection District and the sheriff’s office. We didn’t locate much of anything in the woods, but we did locate evidence of a burn pile near Mr.
Ancona’s vehicle.”
On Friday, Frank was officially reported missing to the Leadwood Police Department after he failed to show up for work. Malissa Ancona, Frank's wife, had told police that Frank had been called out to deliver a vehicle part across the state, however his employer said that wasn't true. Inside the Ancona's home, police found a safe that looked like a crowbar had been taken to it, and all of Frank's firearms missing.
Extensive blood evidence was also reportedly found in the master bedroom of their home.
Wife and stepson charged with murder
On Monday, Malissa, 44, and Paul Jinkerson Jr., 24, were charged with Frank's death. Both Malissa and Paul were charged with with first-degree murder, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.
Jinkerson reportedly shot Frank while he was sleeping in his bedroom.
"Ms. Ancona admitted that she failed to report the crime and additionally attempted to destroy blood evidence and altered the crime scene in an attempt to conceal the offense and was acting in concert with her son Paul Jinkerson Jr.," a probable cause statement read. As of now, it is not known what prompted the murder of the imperial wizard of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.