Make New York Post a Preferred Source A former correctional officer allegedly murdered his wife in front of his seven kids — and even got some of them to help, according to Missouri cops.
Jonathan G. Houston, 44, was arrested after one of his seven children called 911 from a Missouri hotel and whispered to police that she and her siblings were kidnapped and regularly abused by their father, according to charging documents obtained by KOMU.
When responding cops found them Sunday at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Kingdom City, one of the kids told them that their dad had strangled their mother in front of them 10 months earlier, police wrote.
While Houston had his wife by the throat, he forced one child to pour hot water down her legs — and another to cover her mouth to stifle her screams, according to charging documents.
Jonathan G. Houston, 44, is charged with kidnapping and murder. Callaway County Sheriff's Office He had locked the three youngest children in the bathroom and played loud music so they wouldn’t hear their mom being murdered, according to court records.
Houston allegedly threw his wife’s body in a trash bag and tossed it into a dumpster on hotel property. The mom, who has not been otherwise identified, was never reported missing.
Houston confessed to investigators that he killed his wife and had planned it ahead of time, according to the charging documents. He is also under investigation for a prior sexual assault and the assault of other victims, according to police.
Additional details were not immediately available.
“At this point we’re 48 hours afterwards on a crime that we’re already 10 months behind on,” Chief Deputy of the Callaway County Sheriff’s Office Curtis Hall told KOMU. “We have to be mindful of what we can release and what we should release”
Houston’s children said he murdered his wife at the hotel in December 2025. KSDK News Houston was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping and is being held without bond.
The children were taken into protective custody, cops said.
