According to The Innocence Project, the investigation found no fingerprint or DNA clues that would point toward Jordan being Houk’s killer. There were two main theories: either a stranger had broken into Houk’s home after the kids left for school and murdered the 26-year-old. Or, Jordan had killed his dad’s fiancée due to jealousy over the new baby, then went to school without missing a beat.
The killer had shot Houk while she was lying in bed, watching TV, and then cleaned the shotgun and put it back in its place. Ellwood City Ledger reports that in order to get to the school bus with Jenessa, Jordan would have had only two minutes to murder Houk, clean the bullet debris off himself, clean the gun, and leave the house.
The family was interviewed immediately after Houk’s death. They interviewed 7-year-old Jenessa four times, but only recorded the fourth interview. By that point, Jenessa had changed her story. She first said she didn’t see anything unusual with Jordan that morning, but by the fourth interview, Jenessa claimed she saw Jordan moving around his shotgun the morning her mom died.
Christopher Brown, Jordan’s dad, was working at the time, so he had an alibi (per ABC News). Police turned to other suspects. Jordan said he had seen a black truck near his house that morning, but he didn’t think anything of it at the time. But police said that Jordan later changed his story, adding additional details about a man inside the truck.
