Betty Jones was allegedly murdered by Michael Wayne DeVaughn — 48 Hours On ID spotlights the case

Michael Wayne DeVaughn photo
Michael Wayne DeVaughn was indicted in the 1990 murder of Betty Jones and sexual assault of her friend, Kathryn Crigler. Pic credit: Starkville Police Department

Betty Jones was allegedly murdered by Michael Wayne DeVaughn, who is also being accused of sexually assaulting Kathryn Crigler—48 Hours On ID on Investigation Discovery takes a closer look at the case.

On September 3, 1990, Jones, 65, was at her friend Crigler’s house on Highway 182 in Starkville, Missouri, helping the 81-year-old get ready for bed when she heard a knock at the door.

When she answered the door, a man entered the home and slashed her neck, walked into the back bedroom where Crigler was located and raped her before fleeing the scene.

Crigler was unable to walk as her leg had been amputated, but she managed to drag herself to the kitchen and yank the phone down and called 911 for help.

When emergency medical services arrived, they had to kick the door in to get inside the home as the perpetrator had locked the door when he left.

Jones was pronounced dead at the scene, and Crigler was transported to Oktibbeha County Hospital, where they performed a rape kit.

Crigler died several months later at a nursing home, and the case went unsolved for 28 years.

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When DeVaughn was arrested on June 20, 2018, and booked into the Tishimingo County Jail on a felony possession of a controlled substance charge, his DNA was sent to the lab.

The results concluded that his DNA matched the evidence collected in the 1990 cold case. He was arrested again four months later and charged with capital murder and sexual assault.

In 2019, DeVaughn pled not guilty to the crimes.

He is now being held at the Oktibbeha County Jail on a $11 million bond.

District Attorney Scott Colom has not decided if he will seek the death penalty in the case.

48 Hours On ID — Knock Knock, airs at 8/7 on Investigation Discovery.

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