The woman confessed to shooting the Canyon County man. Her then boyfriend was a killer

In April 2021, Bradley Griffin Jacobs was lured to a remote home southwest of Caldwell where he was robbed and killed.

The Caldwell woman was initially charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 41-year-old man and told police she shot the victim after he “tried to rape her with a knife.”

Nearly two years later, after long transitions through the court system, the two defendants are about to be sentenced to death by Jacobs, and a different picture of his final hours emerges.

Authorities arrested Jennica Berry, then 23, in 2021 after she told police she was alone with the victim and shot him dead. But detectives said in court documents that Berry changed her story several times during interrogations, prompting them to investigate and find out what really happened.

Jacob Neely, Berry’s then-boyfriend, was eventually arrested and charged with first-degree murder and robbery and pleaded not guilty to both charges. Court records show that he pleaded guilty in December to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea bargain, with a verdict due on February 22.

The charges against Berry were changed to robbery and she pleaded guilty in April 2022. Since then, several sentencing hearings have continued, with Berry’s sentencing due on March 1.

What happened the night Bradley Jacobs was murdered?

Court records show that Berry picked up Jacobs from his home early on April 9 and drove him to a property on Wagner Road, which is southwest of Caldwell. Police said they later discovered that there was another person in the car, but no charges were filed against the person.

According to court records, Neely, then aged 30, was waiting for them to arrive on Wagner Road, and he pointed a gun at Jacobs, telling him to get out of the car and turn out his pockets. Neely killed Jacobs, police said, and they found his body later that day.

Jacobs was shot once in the right lower chest with a 9mm firearm, according to a Canyon County Sheriff’s Office affidavit obtained by an Idaho statesman.

The story goes on

“Based on subsequent interrogations and witness statements, it appears that Bradley Jacobs was brought to the scene … with the intent to rob and kill him,” Canyon County Sheriff’s Office detectives wrote in a sworn statement about the probable cause of Neely’s arrest. “…Looks like Jennika Berry and Jacob Neely planned the crime.”

Authorities said Berry told investigators that she told Neely that Jacobs made inappropriate sexual comments and was sexually aggressive towards her. Jacobs’ relatives told detectives that Berry and Jacobs had been involved in a sexual relationship for about six weeks.

While in custody at the Canyon County Jail, Neely was charged with two counts of aggravated disorder and one count of battery. A jury trial on these charges is set for April 3; he pleaded not guilty last May.

Neely was transferred to the custody of the Idaho Department of Corrections on Jan. 18 and will remain until sentencing on the manslaughter charge, Canyon County spokesman Joe Decker told the Statesman in an email.

Reporter Alex Breezy contributed.

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