Suspect found guilty in 4 Omaha shooting deaths

Nikko Jenkins
Nikko Jenkins, charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of four Omaha people last summer, is led to court by a Douglas County deputy in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, April 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting four people in Omaha over 10 days last summer was on Wednesday found guilty of murder.
Nikko Jenkins, 27, who is representing himself, filed a handwritten motion to the Douglas County District Court last week stating his intention to plead guilty to all felony counts against him. But on Wednesday, he pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree murder and eight weapons counts.
Judge Peter Bataillon found him guilty of all charges.
A no-contest plea acknowledges there is sufficient evidence to convict but is not an admittance of guilt.
Prosecutors say Jenkins shot Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger in three separate ambushes last summer after his July 30 release from prison.
Jenkins had flipped between expressing his guilt and declaring his innocence since his arrest in September. After initially pleading not guilty, he declared in November that he wanted to plead guilty. He had changed his mind again by late January, saying he is mentally ill and should be released from jail.
Bataillon has found Jenkins competent to stand trial.
Jenkins tried to plead no contest to all the charges earlier this month, but the judge refused to accept the plea because of the severity of the charges.
Police say Jenkins used a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun loaded with deer slugs Aug. 11 to kill Cajiga-Ruiz and Uribe-Pena, whose bodies were found inside a pickup truck in southeast Omaha. Eight days later, he used a small-caliber gun to kill Bradford, a one-time prison acquaintance. Then, on Aug. 21, police say, Jenkins pulled Andrea Kruger from her SUV as she drove home from work and shot her four times before speeding off in her vehicle.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

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