Helen Wilson of Beatrice Nebraska

Helen Loretta (Jones) Wilson is the subject matter of HBO's documentary series Mind over Murder. She was born to George K. Jones (1882 - 1950) and Ida Belle Jones (1889-1947), and had siblings Roy Cyrus (1906-1976), Arthur Jesse (1908-1966), Florence E. (Jones) Arnst (1912-1986), and Melvin G Jones (1931-2012). She married Raymond Lathal Wilson (1912 - 1966) in 1934, and had children Janet Rae (Wilson) Houseman (1936-2019), Darrell G. Wilson (1940-2020), and Lawrence G. Wilson. According to the 1940s census, she was 24 and Raymond was 29 and they lived with their daughter Janet (age 3) at 822 Herbert St in Beatrice. In 1950, Helen was 33 and they lived with their three children in Beatrice. She listed her occupation with the census as "keeping house". She was very family oriented and was viewed by many as the one to 'keep the family together'. In her later years she was extremely active in the local Beatrice community, being involved with her church Centenary United Methodist, the Ruth Circle of Centenary United Methodist Women, A.A.R.P, Gage County Historical Society and Eagles Auxiliary of Aerie 531. She liked to travel around the country, often filming her adventures. In 1985, Helen was found dead at her home. Bill Fitzgerald, a lieutenant in the Beatrice police department, was the lead investigator in Helen's murder. He discovered that Helen was sexually assaulted and died via suffocation. The murder of 68 year old Helen was shocking to her family and the entire small town community. The police took this situation very seriously and surveyed the funeral looking for suspects, but was unable to find anyone. Dozens were interviewed. See No new leads in murder of Beatrice Woman The FBI was eventually asked for assistance by the small town police department, and a FBI profiler from Ohio was called into Beatrice. Various tools including hypnosis were used to interview potential suspects. Eventually, what became known as the "Beatrice Six" confessed to the crime, but they were all exonerated by DNA evidence more than two decades later. Finally, in 2009 authorities revealed Helen Wilson's killer was Bruce Allen Smith who was one of the original 10 suspects. When she was murdered Helen was the grandmother to seven grandchildren, and great-grandmother to five. See Helen Wilson: Obituary The Beatrice community suffered another heinous crime 15 years later with the death of Lillian M Meisenbach