David Nelson

Murder charges against a Jamestown man will remain in place following an appearance in city court.

Wednesday morning, a preliminary hearing was held for David Nelson. The 58-year-old is accused of killing Michael Jaeckle with a crossbow in September.

City Court Judge George Panebianco ruled there was enough evidence to keep the charges against Nelson in place.

During the preliminary hearing, two police officers with the Jamestown Police Department testified – Sgt. Daniel Overend and Sgt. Christopher Draudt.

Draudt was working the overnight shift on Sept. 12 when dispatch received a 911 call about a possible murder.

The 911 phone call was reportedly made by Nelson himself, somewhere around 5 a.m.

Draudt went to a hotel on West Third Street where Nelson was in the lobby holding a crossbow in one hand and a machete in the other.

Draudt said he recognized Nelson from previous interactions. Nelson had apparently told him there were people in his apartment with guns.

Because Nelson was holding weapons in his hands, he was ordered to place them on the ground and get on his stomach, which he eventually did. After that he was taken into custody.

Nelson allegedly told Draudt that one of the people in his apartment was “down with a dart in his neck.”

Nelson gave the officers his apartment address of 314 W. Fourth St.

Draudt said they secured the weapons Draudt was holding and some of the police at the scene went to the apartment, including himself.

When they entered, Draudt said he could see a white male that appeared to be deceased with a crossbow bolt lodged in his neck.

Some of the rooms in the apartment had been screwed shut. Officers forced open the doors to ensure there were no other victims in the apartment.

The victim, later identified as Michael Jaeckle, apparently had a bag from UPMC that had his name on it.

Draudt said Nelson was sent to UPMC Chautauqua because he had told officers he had taken some medication and police wanted to make sure there were no complications from the medicine.

While at the hospital, Nelson was interviewed by Overend.

Overend said he was awakened around 5:30 a.m. and told of a possible homicide in the city.

After going to the apartment, Overend went to the hospital to interview Nelson.

This was around 8 a.m.

He said that Nelson was read his Miranda Warnings and agreed to speak to police, which apparently was recorded via bodycam.

None of the bodycam was played in court Tuesday.

Overend said Nelson appeared sleepy at first but eventually became more coherent.

Overend said they spoke for around two hours. Also present was a member of the District Attorney’s Office and other police officers.

Nelson allegedly said that he shot Jaeckle with a crossbow, giving different variations of why, including that there were other people outside that wanted to kill him and there was talk of suicide.

Nelson also said that he felt threatened because Jaeckle may have had a pocketknife but none was found.

Overend said Nelson had apparently been hospitalized for mental health issues, which is where he and Jaeckle met.

Nelson also had allegedly been released from the hospital the day before Jaeckle’s death.

Following the two officers’ testimonies, attorney Brendan Green with the Public Defender’s Office argued there wasn’t enough evidence presented for Nelson to be detained and asked the charges be dismissed.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt responded that in a trial they will have additional evidence to show beyond Nelson’s own words that he is guilty, but for a preliminary hearing he argued that they have met the legal definition for the burden of proof.

Panebianco ruled the burden of proof is much lower for a preliminary hearing and that the District Attorney’s Office met that requirement.

He ordered that the case could proceed with the charges and that Nelson remain in the county jail without bail.

Nelson had previously been charged with second-degree murder and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

The case will now move to a grand jury.