Killer of parents gets life without parole

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

A Henderson man who pleaded guilty to the murders of his mother and stepfather will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Mathew Frenn was sentenced on Monday to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Frenn beat his 60-year-old mother with a club and his stepfather with a hammer before stabbing them to death in June 2001.

Frenn pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon for the deaths of Dorothy and Lee Jackson. The plea saved Frenn from a possible death sentence.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz has said the plea agreement was worked out because it was unclear if a jury would give the death penalty to Frenn, who is HIV-positive and has pancreatic cancer. Had Frenn not been given the death penalty by the jury, he could potentially have received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

The Jacksons' bodies were found in their home near Interstate 215 and Gibson Road weeks after their deaths. Dorothy Jackson was found inside her refrigerator, and Lee Jackson, 69, was found in a bathtub that had been covered in plastic.

Frenn was arrested in Texas after police traced him through credit cards they said he took from the Jacksons after their deaths.