Police say Frank Ancona wanted a divorce. So they shot him in the head and thrown his body in a river. Hate to see what a trial separation would have looked like. 

KMOV

ST. LOUIS – The stepson and wife of a local Ku Klux Klan leader have been arrested and charged with his murder.

Monday, officials said they arrested and charged Frank Ancona’s wife and stepson in connection to his murder.

Malissa Ann Ancona and Paul Edward Jinkerson Jr. have each been charged with abandonment of a corpse, first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.

According to the probable cause statement, Ancona was shot and killed while inside his bedroom by Jinkerson Jr. After the shooting, Ancona’s body was placed in Jinkerson’s vehicle and dumped in the Belgrade, Missouri area.

St. Francois County Prosecutor Jerrod Mahurin told News 4, “From the evidence we have she was an active participant all the way through, although the evidence we have is that he would have been the one who actually pulled the trigger.”

Mahurin said Mrs. Ancona claimed she was at a convenience store at the time the victim was believed to have been shot and killed, but investigators easily proved her story was a lie.

“They found multiple video from different places that showed where she was and who she was with and it just did not match up with her story at all,” said Mahurin.

According to police, when they searched Ancona’s home, they found “extensive blood evidence” in the master bedroom.

Court documents state that Malissa told police her biological son killed Ancona while he was asleep. She also reportedly said she didn’t file a police report, attempted to destroy blood evidence, altered the crime scene to conceal evidence and that she was acting in concert with her Jinkerson.

Authorities said they found the 51-year-old self-proclaimed Imperial Wizard of the Traditional American Knights’ car on Thursday in the Mark Twain National Forest, but it was not reported as suspicious because there was no report of a missing person at the time.

On Friday, police were alerted that Ancona was reported missing through a Facebook post. Officials then immediately began searching the area for possible leads.

Ancona’s body was found Saturday afternoon in the Big River, off Highway C on Big River Road near Belgrade, Missouri. The Washington County Deputy Coroner said the body was found on an access road to the river by a family who was on their way to go fishing. His body was located a few miles from where his car had been originally found.

Ancona’s death was ruled a homicide after it was determined he died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Over the weekend, police arrested Ancona’s stepson, Jinkerson Jr., on an unrelated warrant. Ancona’s wife was taken into custody Sunday night.

The Missouri Highway Patrol of Drug and Crime Control, St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department, Leadwood Police Department, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office are all currently working on the ongoing investigation.