Hey, y’all. Today, we are going to dive into the chilling story of Nebraska killer Nikko Jenkins, an American spree killer whose gruesome acts shook the city of Omaha, Nebraska in 2013. Nikko committed four murders within a month in one of the worst killing sprees in American history, terrorizing the local community and sparking a discussion on the intersection of mental health, the criminal justice system, and the role society plays in rehabilitating—or failing to rehabilitate—convicted criminals. Oh, and the Egyptian serpent god Aphophis is involved.
Early Life and Background
Nikko Allen Jenkins was born on September 16, 1986, in Omaha, Nebraska. Raised in an environment with criminal activity, domestic violence, and substance abuse, Nikko was exposed to a life of crime and dysfunction from a young age. Since both of his parents had been in trouble with the law, it wasn’t surprising that Nikko would end up involved in crime as well.
Nikko started breaking the law when he was only 11 years old. As a teenager, he already had a long list of crimes, such as attacking people, stealing things, and having dangerous weapons. In 2003, when he was 17 years old, he went to prison for stealing a car and robbing someone.
The Murders
After serving ten years in prison for the carjacking, Nikko was set free in July 2013. Just a few weeks after getting out, he began a terrible series of murders, taking the lives of four innocent individuals:
Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge C. Cajiga-Ruiz
On August 11, 2013, early in the morning, around 5:01 a.m., a cop stumbled upon two dead bodies in a white Ford truck out near a city pool at 18th and F St, in Spring Lake Park. The victims, Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge C. Cajiga-Ruiz, were shot in the head, and their pockets were all empty and turned inside out. They were duped into meeting up with two ladies for a sexual encounter. Nikko’s crazy killing spree started with this out-of-the-blue double murder, which went down less than two weeks after he was sprung from prison on July 30.
Curtis Bradford
On August 19, 2013, Nikko killed 33-year-old Curtis Bradford, a fellow inmate he had befriended while in prison. He shot Bradford twice in the head at close range. On that August morning, a man who had just finished working the night shift at a nearby convenience store discovered the body of Curtis Bradford. It was lying outside a separate garage located at the intersection of 18th and Clark Street. The investigators who arrived on the scene found that Bradford had been shot twice in the back. Interestingly, it turned out that Bradford and Jenkins, the suspect, had taken a picture together for Facebook just a day before this tragic event. Among all the victims, Curtis Bradford was the only one who personally knew Jenkins.
Andrea Kruger
On August 21, 2013, Nikko targeted 26-year-old Andrea Kruger, a mother of three who was driving home after a late-night shift at work. He forced her car off the road, dragged her out of the vehicle, and shot her four times before fleeing the scene. A deputy sheriff discovered the crime scene while answering a call about gunshots. She was lying in the street at the intersection of 168th and Fort St. She had been shot several times in her face, neck, and shoulder with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Kruger was on her way home after working a bartending shift near 178th and Pacific St. Security cameras captured her locking up the Deja Vu Lounge at 1:47 a.m. Later that day, at 6:30 p.m., her gold 2012 Chevrolet Traverse SUV was found abandoned about 12 miles away, in an alley at 43rd and Charles St. Later in the week, Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning held a press conference. He shared that investigators believed the SUV had been left there about 2.5 hours after it was stolen. They also found that someone had tried, but failed, to set the inside of the vehicle on fire.
Investigation and Arrest
The savage and cruel manner in which the murders were carried out, along with their occurrence in a short period of time, obviously freaked out the Omaha community and led to an urgent search for the person responsible for these heinous acts. As the investigation progressed, Nikko unintentionally provided evidence against himself by making phone calls to the police and local news stations, where he admitted to having killed the four victims as an offering to Apophis, an ancient Egyptian deity.
On August 30, 2013, Nikko was arrested for a separate offense involving a terroristic threat. During a police interrogation, he admitted to committing the four murders and shared horrifying details of the events. He explained to the detectives that he had killed his victims in order to satisfy Egyptian god Apophis. Nikko believed that the god had instructed him to carry out these killings in order to cause chaos and destruction in the world.
Trial and Conviction
Nikko faced charges for four counts of first-degree murder, and his trial started in April 2014. Throughout the trial, his behavior was strange and unpredictable. He made bizarre claims about being connected to Egyptian gods and insisted on defending himself in court. This raised concerns about his mental state, so several psychiatric evaluations were carried out to see if he was mentally fit to face trial.
In 2014, Nikko was found guilty of all four counts of murder. However, his sentencing was postponed because there were still doubts about his mental health. Jenkins went through many evaluations, and psychiatrists had different opinions about his mental condition. Some thought he was pretending or making up symptoms of mental illness, while others diagnosed him with various disorders, like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and antisocial personality disorder.
Finally, in 2017, after years of legal struggles and evaluations, Nikko was considered mentally fit for sentencing. He was given the death penalty, making him the first person in Nebraska to receive this sentence since the state brought back capital punishment in 2016. In addition to the death penalty, Jenkins was also sentenced to 450 years in prison for other weapons charges related to the murders, such as using a firearm to commit a felony and being a felon with a firearm.
Nikko is still on death row and has exhausted all of his appeals.
The Aftermath and Public Debate
The gruesome murders committed by Nikko Jenkins and the following court case really got people talking about how mental health fits into the world of crime and punishment. Many questioned how someone with a long rap sheet and obvious mental health problems could be let out of jail without getting the help they needed or someone keeping an eye on them. Nikko’s situation showed that the system isn’t perfect and that people who’ve been locked up often don’t get the mental health care and support they need to get back on their feet.
Plus, this case got people debating whether it’s right to give the death penalty to someone who might not be all there in the head. Some folks say it’s not fair to execute someone if their mind isn’t working right, because it brings up all sorts of ethical and legal issues.
So, Nebraska has taken steps to improve its criminal justice system and mental health services. They’re working on making things better for people in jail and even after they get out. This way, they can get back into society more easily and not end up back in jail again.
Nikko’s case also highlights the importance of understanding and addressing the root causes of criminal behavior. We can’t forget that not taking care of people’s mental health can lead to some really bad outcomes, not just for them but for everyone around them too.
Final Thoughts
The scary story of Nikko Jenkins is like a warning for us all about how mental health, the United States justice system, and not having enough help for people with mental health issues who need it can mix together in a really bad way. What Nikko did has left a permanent scar on Omaha and the families of the people he hurt. It’s also made people think about how we all have a part to play in stopping things like this from happening again.
We need to keep learning from this terrible event and work on making the way we handle crime and mental health better and kinder. We should understand that it’s not easy for people who get stuck in the world of crime and jail, and try to find ways to help them break free from that cycle.
Sources
- https://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/man-who-killed-people-in-omaha-sentenced-to-death/article_05a88b14-f13c-596e-8cc1-49ce38ba0a54.html
- https://omaha.com/news/crime/u-s-supreme-court-declines-to-hear-appeal-from-omaha-killer-nikko-jenkins/article_8609f72a-a568-556e-ab37-a3e13dc90489.html
- https://omaha.com/complete-coverage-nikko-jenkins-convicted-of-4-murders-sentenced-to-death/collection_48429228-a038-11e5-9263-8bc352525845.html
- https://murderpedia.org/male.J/j/jenkins-nikko.htm