BEATRICE – A 26-year-old Odessa, Texas man has admitted to shooting and killing Marc Jarrell in Jefferson County, July 1st, 2019.
Jerry Gilbert withdrew previous pleas of not guilty and Wednesday pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. The pleas were accepted by District Judge Rick Schreiner.


(Schreiner) "Mr. Gilbert, did you shoot and kill Mark Jarrell in Jefferson County Nebraska?...(Gilbert)...."Yes sir"....(Schreiner)..."Do you have anything to add to that factual basis, other than what your attorney has explained to me?...(Gilbert)..."I just want to apologize for my actions."


The change of pleas happened during a hearing held in Gage County District Court. Gilbert is scheduled to be sentenced in the same Beatrice courtroom, December 16th(1:30 pm). Gilbert originally was to face trial on several charges against him but reached a plea deal with the State of Nebraska. Gilbert could receive up to life in prison on the murder count and up to fifty years on the gun conviction.


Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Zach Blackman told the court testimony would have come from officers of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Nebraska State Patrol….who gained information from a confidential informant that an individual nicknamed “Crash” had shot and killed a man July 1st, 2019 near Crystal Springs Lake in Fairbury….disposing of the body with the help of another man and his car.


Four days after the shooting, Blackman says authorities were told by a co-defendant, Trey Saathoff that the vehicle belonging to him and driven by Gilbert met another vehicle at Crystal Springs Lake.


"Once both cars arrived, the individual he knew as "Crash", got out of the car that he came in...walked over to the black Kia...took a shooter's stance and fired three to four gunshots into the back of the Kia. Saathoff agreed to take investigators to the location of the shooting, where they found several items, including broken glass and four spent nine-millimeter shell casings. The area was also under video surveillance, which the investigators were able to obtain. The video surveillance shows that on July 1st, 2019...at 6:46 p.m., a dark-colored vehicle similar to Trey Saathoff's Kia, arrived at the area near where the shooting occurred."


Gilbert, co-defendant Trey Saathoff and Gilbert’s girlfriend were together in a vehicle. Gilbert later drove the vehicle away by himself and later met up with others to clean out the back of the Kia with chemicals.


Gilbert was arrested July 7th in Fairbury, and initially told officers that another person shot Jarrell.


"After being confronted about it, Gilbert did admit to shooting the male in the back seat of Saathoff's vehicle. He admitted that he was high on methamphetamine at the time and thought the male in the back seat was reaching for a weapon, so that's why he shot him. He brought Jarrell's body to a gravel road south of Endicott, and left the body in a ditch. Mr. Gilbert agreed to take investigators to Jarrell, which he did. Mr. Jarrell's body was in fact found in a ditch where Mr. Gilbert led the investigators. The autopsy showed that Jarrell had been shot at least four times and had died as a result of the gunshot wounds."


Blackman said the nine-millimeter handgun used was not found. Gilbert admitted to taking the gun apart and scattering the pieces. Defense Attorney Robert Kortus agreed that the state’s account supported the convictions.


The murder conviction carries a minimum of twenty years in prison, while the weapon conviction carries a mandatory minimum of five years. In the plea agreement, there is a joint recommendation by both sides, for a prison term of 50-to-55 years. Charges of possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person and improper disposal of human skeletal remains, were dismissed.