Frank Ancona, a 51-year-old white male, was a man whose life and death were marked by the very ideology he espoused as an 'imperial wizard' of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. His story, however, would not end with a dramatic clash of beliefs, but in a far more common and tragic tale of domestic strife. In February 2017, Ancona was reported missing from his home in Leadwood, Missouri.
His wife, Malissa Ancona, initially told police that her husband had been sent on an out-of-state delivery for work and that he intended to file for divorce upon his return. This story quickly unraveled when his employer confirmed that no such work trip had been assigned.
The search for Frank Ancona came to a grim conclusion when a family on a fishing trip discovered his body by the Big River near Belgrade, Missouri. An autopsy would later reveal that he had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators soon turned their attention to his home, where they found evidence of a bloody crime scene in the master bedroom, which had been ineptly cleaned. Suspicion fell upon his 44-year-old wife, Malissa, and his 24-year-old stepson, Paul Jinkerson Jr. Both were arrested and charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and abandonment of a corpse.
The narrative of what transpired on the night of Frank Ancona's death shifted as the investigation progressed. Initially, Malissa Ancona claimed that her son, Paul Jinkerson Jr., had shot his stepfather while he slept. However, her story would change dramatically. In a letter from jail and later in court, Malissa confessed that she was the one who had fired the fatal shots. She admitted to shooting her husband, cleaning the blood from the bedroom walls, and disposing of the stained bedding in an attempt to cover up her crime.
In April 2019, Malissa Ancona pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and abandonment of a corpse. As part of a plea agreement, she was sentenced to life in prison. In her confession, she maintained that her son, Paul Jinkerson Jr., had only assisted in cleaning the crime scene and dumping the body. The motive for the murder, according to prosecutors, was a marital dispute, as Frank Ancona had recently asked his wife for a divorce. The case against Paul Jinkerson Jr. continued, with his lawyer asserting his client's innocence in the murder itself.
