Ex-corrections officer Jonathan Houston charged with killing wife, allegedly with children's help

Right · 2Jonathan G. Houston, 44, a former Missouri correctional officer, was arrested after one of his seven children called 911 from a hotel and whispered that she and her siblings had been kidnapped and abused by their father, according to charging documents obtained by KOMU. 1 2 Right · 2Deputies found the children on Sunday at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Kingdom City, and one child said their father had strangled their mother in front of them 10 months earlier. 1 2 Right · 2The documents allege that while Houston gripped his wife by the throat, he forced one child to pour hot water down her legs and another to cover her mouth to muffle her screams. 2 1

Right · 2He allegedly locked his three youngest children in the bathroom and had loud music played so they could not hear, then put the woman's body in a trash bag and threw it in a dumpster on the hotel's property. 1 2 Right · 1Fox News reported that the Callaway County Sheriff's Office identified the woman as 37-year-old Aunika C. Houston, originally from California and believed to have lived in central Missouri for several years; she was never reported missing. 2 Right · 2Houston allegedly confessed to investigators that he killed his wife and had planned it in advance, according to the charging documents. 1 2

Right · 2He is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, held without bond, and also under investigation over an alleged prior sexual assault and assaults of other victims; the children are in protective custody. 1 2 Right · 1Fox News said Houston had been a probation and parole officer who later worked at a state correctional center. Chief Deputy Curtis Hall told KOMU there was no danger to the community and that officials must be mindful of what they release, being 48 hours after a crime already 10 months old. 2