Dateline: The Bluegrass Mystery - The Ella Jackson case gets fresh perspective with first-ever lead investigator interview 

Dateline's The Bluegrass Mystery premiered on June 10 exclusively on NBC. The episode reveals Glenn Jackson's punishment after the disappearance of an Eastern Kentucky University professor's wife, Ella Diebolt Jackson. Over two years after her disappearance in Madison County, the court punished him for his role in her death. The case drew public attention and marked a grim chapter in the community.

Ella's family faced difficulties in attending the legal proceedings because they live in distant countries. Consequently, they have not been able to travel to the United States and take part in the court hearings held over the years. Their absence has left them relying on updates rather than direct involvement in the process. Later, the family witnessed Glenn's imprisonment.

The Bluegrass Mystery also features the first interview with the case's lead investigator from the Richmond Police Department, Jason Friend, and the department's chief, Rodney Richardson.

Continue reading more about the interview on Dateline: The Bluegrass Mystery.

Jason's and Rodney's fresh perspectives on Ella's case on Dateline: The Bluegrass Mystery

Jason Friend and Rodney Richardson both reported that a 47-year-old Ukrainian-born mother of two vanished from her home just days before she planned to leave with her young son, following what was described as an abusive marriage. Ella's oldest son, Phillip Hans, told police that he grew concerned when he stopped hearing from his mother. He explained that they had been in constant contact.

Glenn gave detectives different accounts in the early stages of the case. He first contacted the police and claimed that his wife might have left their son behind. He also explained that she often disappeared for periods of time and later came back.

Police recovered Ella's phone, car, wallet, and her young son, Alexander, inside the home on Westwood Drive. Alexander said that Glenn Jackson always told him that his mother left them to go back to Ukraine. Six months after Ella disappeared, her partial skeletal remains were found in a remote wooded area of Pulaski County near Jackson's lake house. How she died is still unknown.

Dateline also reveals that Jackson had never admitted to killing his wife. In April 2020, he entered an Alford plea to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence after detectives discovered his wife's blood in the trunk of his car. Using luminol, investigators uncovered a stain measuring about two feet across. Police also reported finding a knife in the trunk.

Jason Hahn shared his memory about the necklace that keeps Ella alive in her son's heart

Ella's ex-husband is now raising the couple's son. He said Jackson's lies had hurt the child more than he would ever know. To put it bluntly, as a direct result of Mr. Jackson's abuse of the corpse and tampering with evidence, they were left with nothing but a box of bones to bury.

In a poignant moment, Jason Hahn revealed that the only keepsake the boy has to remember his mother is a necklace. For Alexander, it is the sole tangible reminder of her, and he treasures it deeply. Jackson sat stoically listening to what Ella's loved ones had waited years to tell him.

In the end, the judge sentenced him to 14 years in prison. But with credit for time served under house arrest, he could be released in less than eight years. Ella's family and the prosecutors both said that justice fell short in this circumstantial, well-investigated case.

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