On December 17, 1992, Pamela and Kermode Jordan were brutally murdered 
in their lovely Colorado home. The following morning, the Jordans'
fifteen-year-old son, Jacob Ind, confessed to the murders.

"They beat me, they beat me and I couldn't take it any more."

    Was Jacob Ind a murderer? 
    Was Jacob a victim? 
    Or is he both?

Come with me. Enter Jacob's world--a world where love means hate, where
right and wrong are traps to be set by parents determined to raise "the 
perfect boys." A precocious child, Jacob learned from his two greatest
teachers that problems are always solved through violence. And, via
America's criminal justice system, the Jordans' lesson continues to be
reinforced.

    Come with me.
    Enter Jacob's world.
    Discover, as I did, that there are many different kinds of murder.

    **Mary Ellen Johnson, author**   


Jacob Ind is the youngest person in the history of the state of Colorado
to receive life without parole. Colorado is now trying twelve-year-olds as
adults and placing fourteen-year-olds in adult prisons. Jacob has been 
housed in a "control unit" for the past two years. He is locked down 
twenty-three hours a day in a cubicle the size of a bathroom. He has not
been outside, felt the sunlight or a breeze on his face or seen a patch of 
grass in that entire time. He is allowed one to four fifteen minute phone
calls a month, and is shackled even during his weekly three hour visit, 
which is conducted behind plate glass. Despite his confinement, Jacob's 
motto is,"Chains can't break the spirit. The spirit breaks the chains." 
More prosaically, Jacob says, "It's still better than home."


Midwest Book Review writes: THE MURDER OF JACOB IS A RIVETING TRUE-CRIME
TALE THAT WILL COMPEL THE READER TO THOUGHFUL REFLECTION ABOUT PARENTING,
FAMILY VALUES, THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM, AND THE AGE-OLD QUESTIONS OF
LAW, JUSTICE AND HUMAN REDEMPTION. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

About the author: Mary Ellen Johnson is a previously published novelist who
became involved in Jacob Ind's life by accident. Mary Ellen's daughter 
shared a class with Jacob. Through a series of either bizarre happenings
--or by Divine Providence, depending on your belief system--Mary Ellen 
ended up working as an investigator on Jacob's defense. She spent hundreds
of hours with Jacob. During that time she documented the physical, 
emotional and sexual abuse that Jacob suffered at the hands of his parents.
Dedicated to helping Jacob and all the other Jacobs out there, Mary Ellen
is donating half her profits to a Justice For Jacob fund. Repeatedly, Mary
Ellen wrestles with the question, Is our present system designed to protect 
children like Jacob? Did Jacob simply fall through the cracks or is the 
system itself flawed? Are we wrong to tell these children to speak out
about the abuse to teachers, DSS, and police? What happens when all 
effective agencies ignore these children's cries, as they did in Jacob's
case? Are there solutions, or are we doomed to produce more Jacobs?  
   

  To order THE MURDER OF JACOB. Send 15.95 to:
  Voices Publishing
  743 Gold Hill Place, Suite 243   PO Box220,
  Woodland Park, CO 80866-0220
  (719)687-7450

I would like to talk to you if you if you have dealt with the criminal
justice system in an abuse-related case. Also, if you are an advocate for
children's rights and/or would like to use THE MURDER OF JACOB as a fund 
raiser for your organization, please call me at Voices. (719)687-7450) 
Visit Jacob's home page at www.ekklesia.com.