Wanted For:

• First Degree Murder
  Liberty County , GA
• First Degree Murder
  Liberty County , GA

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It All Started With A Bizarre Letter

On May 5, 2004, rural Georgia schoolteacher Wanda Parnell received a strange letter from an anonymous author telling her to go to the house of her close friends, Mildred and Jewel Cleveland. The Clevelands had not been seen or heard from for more than a month. The mystery writer told Parnell to "go there with the local sheriff, take inventory and contact whoever you must." The cryptic note ended with a chilling message: "I took nothing of theirs with me....It's exactly what it looks like. Date was April 1st 10:55 a.m." A terrified Parnell feared the worst had happened to her close friends.

A Chilling Discovery

A few hours after receiving the strange letter, Wanda Parnell, accompanied by her husband and James Caines of the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, went to the Cleveland home to check on her friends. Several calls to the home went unanswered, and when the Parnells and Deputy Caines entered the house, they found no one inside. But, the family's pets were there along with an envelope containing $400 and instructions to use the money to take care of the dog. Mildred Cleveland also appeared to have left her purse with her I.D. and prescriptions behind. Even more strange was Jewel Cleveland's abandoned wheelchair, which he relied on more and more as his health declined.

Mentally Disturbed

In the months before their deaths, relatives say the Clevelands had struggled living in the same house with Mildred's grown son, Jason Howard. Jobless and socially withdrawn, Howard was a disturbed man who had been committed to a mental institution for schizophrenia following his arrest for robbing a bank. Although his mother thought that  Howard could be rehabilitated and insisted that he live with them, relatives say her husband, Jewel, wasn't so sure. As Jewel's health declined, Howard had taken on some care giving responsibilities, but with some resentment. In an undated note, Howard expressed his frustrations about receiving $400 for helping his stepfather:

After much arguing, I, Jason M. Howard, reluctantly take the above monies as they are my only source of income. I do not agree with the amounts. I feel that I am underpaid for the work that I do and the harassment that I endure...

On The Lam

Police think that after killing and burying the Clevelands, Jason Howard continued to live in the house. He paid bills, cared for the family pets, and even took a trip to the family's vacation home. With the aid of cadaver dogs, Liberty County police found the bodies of Jewel and Mildred Cleveland wrapped in tarps and buried in a barn on June 15, 2004. An autopsy later confirmed that both had been shot in the head and that Mildred had been beaten first.

Police consider Jason Howard their prime suspect and his history of mental illness and social awkwardness make him potentially dangerous. In his own words from a November 1994 note, Howard explained:

Let it be known that I, Jason M. Howard, can be extremely paranoid, therefore as a fugitive I will not only be carrying firearms but explosives as well...I'm not dangerous until I am crossed or cornered, so stay away. Keep away and don't blame me for a dead tactical team. Only yourselves to blame.

Car Thief Nabbed, Could Be Howard

Police in Macon, Ga. say a car burglar is really a man wanted for killing his mother and stepfather. In the early morning hours of March 27, 2009, a Macon Police Sergeant caught a man breaking into vehicles at a rental car lot. When the cop arrested the man, he allegedly identified himself as Kevin Wayne Lewis. Macon cops say that turned out to be a lie because the burglar's fingerprints matched those of Jason Morris Howard.

Good Police Work Puts Accused Killer Behind Bars

An alert police sergeant in Macon, Ga. had no idea that the suspected car burglar he was watching would turn out to be an AMW fugitive, accused of double murder. In the early morning hours of March 27, 2009, a Macon Police Sergeant saw a man breaking into vehicles at a rental car lot inside of the fenced area around Enterprise Rental at 2135 Riverside Drive. Cops say the man was caught inside of a vehicle, then he identified himself as Kevin Wayne Lewis. Macon PD charged him with two counts of Entering Auto, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and Possession of Burglary Tools.

Later, when fingerprints came back, Macon cops got a big surprise. The man arrested was not Kevin Lewis, police say his fingerprints matched those of 39-year-old Jason Howard, on the run for nearly five years from Hinesville, Liberty County, Ga. In 2004, Howard was charged with the murder of his parents, Mildred Cleveland and Jewel Cleveland after their bodies were found in a shallow grave behind their home.

Cops had always suspected Jason Howard might be living among the homeless population somewhere in America. No one is sure where he has been for the last several years, or what he has been doing while on the run. His mugshot shows a much different Jason Howard, cleaned up from his earlier photos. Investigators will plan to bring him back to Liberty County soon. Howard is now being held in the Bibb County Jail.