WHEELING, W.Va. — A Wheeling man was sentenced to two life prison terms Tuesday after pleading guilty last fall to a grisly double murder.
Gerald Jako, 38, killed Trevor Vossen and his pregnant girlfriend Lauren Cree-Jenkins at a house in Wheeling 2018, dismembering their bodies and then taking the remains to Raleigh County and burning them.
Ohio County Circuit Judge David Sims ordered the life sentences to be served concurrently. Jako is already serving a 100-year prison term for a 2018 robbery.
Jako did apologize during Tuesday’s sentencing, WTOV-TV reported.
“I know it doesn’t mean much, but I am sorry,” Jako said. “If I could, I would do anything to take it back, I swear to God. If there is anything I can do, please write me tell me what I can do. I’ll do anything you ask me to do, I’ll do it. Like anything.”
Ohio County Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Turak told MetroNews after the plea last September that the prosecution was ready for a two-week trial.
“His attorneys had asked for a plea agreement and we had extended one. The state really did not believe he would enter a plea agreement but he did to our surprise,” Turak said.
The plea just minutes before jury selection was to start.