MEDFORD, Ore. — Sobbing and beating his chest in court Tuesday, a Southern Oregon man admitted that he killed his wife in July 2011 after she came home from being out all night, but blamed her for killing their four young children.
However, Jordan Adam Criado, 53, of Medford, entered what’s known as an Alford guilty plea to four counts of aggravated murder and one of arson. That means that while he does not admit guilt, he acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him. In return, prosecutors will not pursue a death sentence, and will recommend life in prison without parole.
“For my wife, Tabasha, I know I have killed her, and I am sorry for that,” said Criado, dressed in an orange jail smock and pants, his shoulder-length dark hair hanging in his face. “My son, Elijah, I did not kill him.”
“I kill my wife, because she kill my babies. My Elijah, my Isaac, my Andrew, my babies,” he sobbed in heavily accented English, thumping his chest with the points of stiff fingers on the name of each child.