Inmate faces trial for alleged threats
A Butler County Prison inmate is headed for trial on charges he threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend during a prison phone call to his mother.
“I lay in bed at night and think of all the ways I kill this (expletive),” Jason A. Howard said in the taped call, referring to the victim, according to court documents.
“I tell you I've buried her alive, set her on fire, cut her (expletive) apart. I dream of doing this (expletive).”
Howard, 40, of Parker Township, has been in the county prison since July 20, 2016, when he was arrested on unrelated trespass charges and a probation violation.
County detectives last week charged the defendant with terroristic threats, a misdemeanor, in connection with the jailhouse call.
Howard on Monday waived his right to a preliminary hearing in the case.
Detective David Aldridge began investigating after prison officers advised him of the alleged threats June 18.
All phone calls made by inmates are routinely recorded, a policy known to prisoners and to those speaking with the prisoners.
In the 16-minute call to his mother, a “very irate” Howard acknowledges he is being taped but still discusses how he would like to kill his ex-girlfriend, documents said.
“People's going to wonder why I kill people when I get out of here,” he said. “I'm going to get out of here and come right back for the rest of my life. I hope they are listening to this phone call.”
During the call, he tells his mother that his former girlfriend “will be the first one to get her head blown off,” documents said. “If they let me out of this (expletive) place, I'm going to kill her.”
Court records showed Howard has a history of threatening his 35-year-old former girlfriend, who lives in the Slippery Rock area. The couple are the parents of a 4-year-old daughter.
The victim in July 2016 obtained a three-year protection from abuse order against the defendant. He subsequently violated that PFA order by allegedly making 250 phone calls from prison to the woman between Dec. 19, 2016, and May 5.
The repeated calls led to an additional charge of indirect criminal contempt against Howard.
His former girlfriend, according to last month's criminal complaint, told authorities “she wants nothing to do with the defendant and is scared for her well being.”
