Former corrections officer charged with murder and kidnapping in Missouri

Jonathan Guthrie Houston, 44, a former corrections officer, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping in Callaway County, Missouri. The arrest follows a 911 call made from a Baymont Inn & Suites in Kingdom City by one of Houston’s seven children, who reported being kidnapped and abused.

Investigators determined that Houston allegedly killed his wife approximately ten months prior to the report. According to charging documents, Houston allegedly forced his children to participate in the violence and used loud music to prevent the youngest children from hearing the crime. He is accused of placing his wife’s body in a trash bag and discarding it in a hotel dumpster.

Houston, who previously worked as a probation and parole officer and a case manager at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, is being held without bond. He has applied for a public defender as the investigation continues.