In the quiet city of Davenport, Iowa, the life of Mark Jasper, a 64-year-old White male, came to a tragic and unexpected end on Saturday, January 7, 2017. A retired firefighter for the city, Mark had served his community from 1994 until his retirement in 2011. He was a veteran, having served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam and later in the U.S. Navy Reserves.
He was a father and a grandfather, remembered by his family as a loving figure.
On that Saturday evening, around 10 p.m., Davenport police were called to a residence in the 2300 block of Ripley Street for a death investigation. Inside the home he shared with his wife, they discovered Mark Jasper deceased. An investigation revealed he had sustained a fatal gunshot wound.
The investigation quickly focused on his wife, 52-year-old Shiela Jasper. According to the criminal complaint, Shiela admitted to the police that she had shot her husband. She stated that while Mark was asleep in a chair, she retrieved a revolver and shot him in the head. In a chilling detail, she confessed to covering his face with a towel after the act and waiting for several hours before she contacted a mortuary to come and collect his body.
Following her confession, Shiela Jasper was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She was subsequently booked into the Scott County Jail, with her bond set at $1 million. The motive for the killing was not immediately made public. The incident left neighbors and the community in shock, as they learned of the violent end to the life of a man who had dedicated years to public service.
