On December 24, 2013 police were called to 1164 Hatfield to check the welfare of the resident, 33 year old Nicholas Mathew. Family members had not been able to make contact with Mr. Mathew and had become concerned. The apartment was locked and maintenance personnel let officers into the residence with a pass key. Officers found Mr. Mathew deceased inside the apartment. Mr. Mathew had what appeared to be multiple stab wounds. An official cause of death has not been determined at this time. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, December 27th.
When officers entered the apartment, it appeared to have been ransacked. According to family members, some of Mr. Mathew’s property was missing.
While investigating the death, Evansville Police Department investigators were monitoring a call where a cab driver and passenger were stabbed during an armed robbery in Vanderburgh County. Information was obtained shortly after the robbery that EPD investigators believed might connect the two cases. After a joint response from VSCO and EPD, 24 year old John Vernon Jackson Jr. was arrested near the robbery scene. After his arrest, items were found in the cab that connected Jackson to the scene on Hatfield. Those items included Mr. Mathew’s credit cards.
During an interview conducted by detectives from the EPD and the VCSO, Mr., Jackson admitted to robbing and stabbing the cab driver and a passenger. He also admitted to cutting the clerk during the robbery of a gas station at 715 N. Weinbach Ave. on December 20, 2013.
When questioned about the death on Hatfield, Mr. Jackson admitted to being at the residence on Hatfield and robbing the victim but denied any knowledge of his death.
Mr. Jackson is in custody for the robbery/stabbing of the cab driver and the murder investigation is continuing. A case file will be presented to the Prosecutor’s Office to pursue formal charges when all of the information has been gathered.
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