In the small town of Little Falls, New York, the community was shaken by the murder of 36-year-old Gregory Jouben, a local jewelry and coin shop owner. On the evening of October 17, 1991, Jouben was found shot to death in his store on East Main Street. The killing marked the first homicide in the peaceful Herkimer County town in sixty years, leaving residents in a state of shock and grief.
Investigators determined that Jouben had been shot multiple times with a small-caliber handgun, and expensive merchandise had been stolen from his shop. The initial investigation suggested that the murder was a calculated act, with the perpetrator having planned the robbery and killing in advance.
For years, the case remained a mystery that troubled both the New York State Police and the tight-knit community of Little Falls. The breakthrough came when a prolific thief and burglar named Gary Charles Evans was apprehended. Evans, who had a long history of criminal activity, began to confess to a series of murders, including the killing of Gregory Jouben. Evans revealed that he had meticulously planned the robbery, spending two weeks casing Jouben's shop from the roof of the building. On the day of the murder, Evans entered the store, asked Jouben to price an item, and then fatally shot him.
Gary Charles Evans was a confessed serial killer responsible for multiple deaths across upstate New York. His victims included former criminal associates and other robbery targets. In August 1998, Evans was indicted on numerous murder counts, including the death of Gregory Jouben. The day after his arraignment for Jouben's murder, while being transported, Evans managed to escape from a police van. His freedom was short-lived, however, as he leaped from a bridge into the Hudson River to his death, bringing a violent end to his reign of terror and closing the final chapter in the tragic death of Gregory Jouben.
