Local News

Murder Suspect Lived Double Life in N.C.

Posted Updated
Calvin Jackson, aka Curtis Jackson, and his wife
FAISON — For six years, minister Curtis Jackson wasconsidered a pillar of the community in Duplin County. Now, it turns outhis real name is Calvin Jackson, and he's on trialfor a 10-year-old murder in Pinellas County, Florida.

Jackson is accused of killing a man in 1986 after the mantaunted him with racial slurs. Police say Jackson managed to elude capture for 10 years before they caught up with him here.

Faison is a town with only one traffic light where everybody knows everybody else. Those who know Jackson in Faison say he is not capable ofmurder. Evelena Oliver is one of his supporters.

Oliver says she first met Jackson when he attended Bible study at herchurch.

Loura Morrissey helped Jackson get his life together in Faison. She andher husband took Jackson in and, she says, treated him like a son.

Over the years, Jackson worked his way out of the migrant work camps andgot a job at Cates Pickle plant where he was considered a model employee.He married a woman he met in Duplin County and became an ordainedminister.

No one knew about his past until last October when he was arrested atwork.

Oliver says she remembers that moment very clearly.

Morrissey says if Jackson were to show up on her doorstep tomorrow, shewould hug him and invite him in.

Jackson's wife works for the Wilson Police Department. She declined tobe interviewed.

Police say it was Jackson's lack of a police record that made it sodifficult for them to track him down. They finally succeeded when the FBIreceived a tip that Jackson was in Faison.

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.