‘No Longer Innocent’: Minnesota Man Murders and Dismembers His Sister Over Her Pregnancy, Leaving Behind a Journal That Exposes a Chilling Fixation on ‘Purity’
A Minnesota man pleaded guilty to charges connected to the murder of his pregnant sister, whom authorities say he killed and dismembered before scattering her […] ‘No Longer Innocent’: Minnesota Man Murders and Dismembers His Sister Over Her Pregnancy, Leaving Behind a Journal That Exposes a Chilling Fixation on ‘Purity’
Black News 
A Minnesota man pleaded guilty to charges connected to the murder of his pregnant sister, whom authorities say he killed and dismembered before scattering her body parts in various locations.
Jack Joseph Ball, 24, pleaded guilty to premeditated first-degree murder and premeditated first-degree murder of an unborn child in connection with the death of his sister, 30-year-old Bethany Ann Israel, and her unborn baby more than a year ago.
According to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office, Israel went to have dinner with her brother on May 23, 2024.
After several hours passed, family members grew concerned after they hadn’t heard from Israel.
Later that evening, their mother went to Ball’s home, and when she arrived, she saw Ball “tear out of the house.”
When she went inside, she saw a large amount of blood and called 911.
At the scene, police located several tools and large knives, all covered with blood, as well as several severed body parts within the home.
Not long after they arrived and began investigating, they received another 911 call from a homeowner who saw a man through a home surveillance camera place a body part on their front step.
Officers searched the area and found Ball in the backyard of a neighboring home with a self-inflicted injury to his neck.
He was taken to a local hospital.
A medical examiner determined that Israel died as a result of complex homicidal violence. She was more than four months pregnant at the time.
In Jan. 2025, a grand jury indicted Ball on two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of intentional second-degree murder.
Ball has asserted in court that he suffers from mental illness. Minnesota law dictates that a person can not be held criminally responsible if their mental illness prevents them from understanding what they were doing while committing a crime.
According to a criminal complaint cited by CBS News, investigators discovered Ball’s journals and other writings in which he wrote he was “angry” at his sister because she was pregnant and “no longer innocent.”
A trial is scheduled on May 21 to determine the validity of Ball’s mental illness defense.
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