Jacob Stockdale of Stockdale Family Band Charged with Murder of Mom, Brother
Jacob Stockdale of the Stockdale Family Bluegrass Band has been officially charged with two counts of murder in the killing of his mother, Kathryn Stockdale (54), and his younger brother, James Stockdale (21) on June 15th, 2017 at the family’s home in Stark County, Ohio.
As officers arrived at the residence due to a 911 hang up call on June 15th, Jacob Stockdale turned a shotgun on himself. Officers say they heard a shot ring out right as they were arriving, and found Jacob Stockdale just inside the door in with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They later discovered the mother and brother dead. After receiving extensive medical treatment over the last 15 months, Jacob Stockdale can now walk and communicate.
In late September, a Stark County grand jury finally indicted Jacob Stockdale in the two murders. He could face 15 years to life in prison for each of the charges. Prosecutors say they waited until Jacob could walk and communicate before bringing the indictments. Stockdale turned himself into authorities on September 27th, and is currently being housed at the Stark County Jail. He plead not guilty to the two charges.
The Stockdale Family Bluegrass Band was well-known throughout the Ohio region, and received national exposure when they appeared on the reality TV show Wife Swap. The father, Timothy Stockdale, was not at home at the time of the incident, and the oldest brother, Calvin Stockdale, was not living at home at the time.
“In the past fifteen months our family has begun the healing process,” said Timothy Stockdale in a statement. “As Jacob has undergone extensive surgeries and physical healing from his wounds, we have all taken the time to try and prepare emotionally for the legal issues ahead. My sons and I continue to love Jacob and we will continue to give our full cooperation to the authorities.”
READ: God, Family, Bluegrass & Murder: Inside the Stockdale Family Band
No motive in the killings has been given by prosecutors. The family was devoutly religious, and home schooled. A pretrial hearing was held on October 8th, with the murder trial pending.
October 23, 2018 @ 6:58 pm
I was having a pretty hard night, but I guess all told it wasn’t too bad comparatively
October 24, 2018 @ 6:24 am
“The family was devoutly religious, and home schooled.”
If the family were lapsed Episcopalians and attended public school, would it be worthy of mentioning?
October 24, 2018 @ 6:42 am
I consider myself to be devoutly religious, and I was homeschooled during high school. It is worth mentioning. Many of us are very strange people, and not always in a good way. It’s not in the least bit offensive to me. How have we gotten to this point where every little thing is such a problem? Sheesh!
October 24, 2018 @ 6:49 am
I find the teachings and “morals” of government schools to be very strange and evil, and not in a good way. How have we gotten to the point where devoutly religious people, or people who care enough about their children to save them from the moral contagion of government schools are considered strange? This is especially true for Southerners, where government schools did not exist until Yankee occupation, and where all of the great heroes were educated at home, or in small private, religious groups. When the media uses phrases such as “devoutly religious” and make a point to say that a person was home-schooled, it is intended to marginalize and ostracize. The goal is to make them appear as a freak and a lunatic.
October 24, 2018 @ 7:07 am
You make a good point. I am a “Yankee” who transplanted to the south. I did not realize that there were no government schools in the South until we brought them. I went to a private school growing up, and not the fancy kind, so I get your point. I hope to be able to afford to send my children to a private school, too. It just feels to me like it has become fashionable to be offended, that’s all.
I can only speak from my experience, and in my experience, devoutly religious homeschooled family bands, tend to be a bit dysfunctional. I don’t know why, and I don’t think that all of them are dysfunctional, but it is my experience. Had I written this article, I may not have included that line. but I didn’t come here to see an article that I wrote. I came here for Trigger’s perspective. And I don’t think it’s offensive.
October 24, 2018 @ 11:21 am
I too was raised religious, and home-schooled. I am also Southern. I agree that it is worth mentioning, and not offended in the slightest.
October 24, 2018 @ 8:21 am
Yeah, “religious people” and “moral people” are not really the same. Being devoutly religious doesn’t make you better than someone who doesn’t believe in god. Usually it is just the opposite. The most “religious” people I know are garbage. The best I know do not believe in a sky daddy. And, yeah, I have never met a home schooled person who isn’t a little off.
October 24, 2018 @ 7:55 am
There are several families in my area that home school their kids. Working at a local lumber yard I interact with most of them from time-to-time. Some of the kids are definitely odd ducks, but I don’t think it’s the fact that they’re home schooled or their level of religious observance that makes them that way because most of them are pretty well-adjusted. The odd ones are usually that way because they have parents like Bobby Boucher’s mama who think that everything in the outside world is the devil.
October 24, 2018 @ 10:14 am
RD,
I would encourage you to read the in-depth article I wrote about this subject when the murders first occurred. It covers this topic in a more involved manner. I do think the fact that this family was home schooled is relevant to bring up, though I don’t think it’s fair to immediately jump to the conclusion this is the motive behind the killing.
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/god-family-bluegrass-murder-inside-the-life-of-the-stockdale-family-band/
October 24, 2018 @ 7:02 pm
I get the sense that most of the people who “home school” are not competent to teach kids much of anything. Sure, they can do it with their own kids, but they could never get a license to teach OTHER PEOPLE’s kids! (Yes, I’m sure there are some exceptions.)
October 25, 2018 @ 6:43 am
Hahaha. And, public school teachers, most of whom graduate near the bottom of their classes at shitty state colleges, with bogus “education” degrees are more qualified?
October 25, 2018 @ 7:36 am
Yeah, go learn how to solve a quadratic equation, the law of cosines, Newton’s Laws of Motion, photosythesis, and the causes and outcome of the French and Indian War from your Mom,
October 25, 2018 @ 7:40 am
My mom speaks three languages and took Latin from the age of 5.
October 24, 2018 @ 9:01 am
Would anyone happen to know why he would plead not guilty? I wonder if he actually did it or if it was a family crisis where they all were going to commit suicide together. Just a thought I had, probably wrong!
October 24, 2018 @ 7:05 pm
It’s pretty standard. You’re EXPECTED to plead not guilty.
January 7, 2019 @ 4:45 pm
It’s just court jargon. It doesn’t mean you’re not guilty; it just means that you want to hear everything that you are being charged with. Figuratively speaking, it’s like saying “yes, take off my blindfolds and handcuffs and let me walk through this, knowing what’s going on.”
September 22, 2022 @ 1:17 am
Well from what I’ve seen in life really doesn’t matter if you were home schooled and forced to be someone’s religion some people are just fucking crazy ain’t nothing you can do about it most people who kill other people have no real reason to do it any so much bad shit can happen to any one but if your a sane well adjusted human you don’t kill people you take life with a grain of salt and forget about the shit you have no control over and move on in and be moral respectable human