Report: Nikko Jenkins threatened ‘cannibalism’ and a Von Maur repeat

Joe Jordan | Nebraska Watchdog

The fallout from this week’s bombshell report on accused mass murderer Nikko Jenkins—the state is accused of dropping the bill by releasing him from prison and failing to treat his mental problems—includes some staggering numbers and horrific threats.

The Threats:

According to State Ombudsman Marshall Lux’s 60 page investigation, just a few months before Jenkins was released from prison in July, he vowed to “kill people and cannibalize them and drink their blood.”

In 2011 Jenkins reportedly said he intended to torture nuns and children.

In 2008, less than a year after eight innocent people were gunned down inside the Von Maur department store at Westroads Mall, Jenkins allegedly said that once he was out he would “kill others, similar to the Von Maur shootings.”

The Numbers:

12—The report says that until recently the Nebraska Department of Corrections’ “Violence Reduction Program” which is reserved for the prison system’s most violent inmates was limited to “12 inmates per year” and Jenkins wasn’t one of them.

23—Along with being the number of hours Jenkins spent in solitary confinement each day of his last two years in prison, 23 is also the number of times he warned prison staffers that if he ever got out he would commit one violent act after another.

The warnings began in July, 2008, five years before he was discharged.

According to Lux’s report:

• On July 22, 2008, when Mr. Jenkins told Unit Manager Jason Hurt that “he’s just going to randomly go to suburban houses and start killing people outside of North Omaha, maybe go to Tecumseh or Syracuse with his gang members and start killing people.”

• On July 31, 2008, when Mr. Jenkins spoke to Mr. Hurt about a “desire to kill the administration and other people when he gets out of prison.”

• On August 11, 2008, when Mental Health Practitioner Connie Boerner reported that Mr. Jenkins had “expressed having ongoing homicidal ideations and has made threats to hurt others once he is released from incarceration (and) went into detail as to how he would kill others, similar to the recent Von Maur shootings.”

• On January 15, 2009, when Mr. Jenkins spoke to TSCI Mental Health Practitioner Heidi Widner about “the life of crime that awaits him once he is out…(and) that his crimes and killing will not be limited to just his own kind.”

• On February 23, 2009, when Mr. Jenkins spoke with Ms. Boerner, and indicated that he “fantasizes of ‘killing’ others once he is released,” and had stated that “he sees himself ‘destined’ to be a ‘homicidal maniac.’”

• On May 13, 2009, when TSCI Unit Manager Shawn Sherman submitted a Mental Health Referral reporting that Mr. Jenkins “claims to be hearing the voice of an Egyptian god…telling him to massacre children.”

• On December 3, 2009, when Mr. Jenkins reported to Dr. Baker that he was “hearing the voice of an Egyptian god who wanted him to harm others” (Dr. Baker added the observation that that Mr. Jenkins “is not an imminent danger to himself or others at this time,” although just two weeks later he would assault a Corrections employee).

• On December 28, 2009, when Mr. Jenkins sent a Health Services Request Form to Dr. Baker reporting that the “voice” in his mind was telling him to “hurt guards,” and to “start war between good and evil.”

• On January 10, 2010, when Caseworker Howell reported in a Mental Health Referral that Mr. Jenkins had “exhibited increasingly aggressive behavior in the past week…claiming to hear voices telling him to injure staff.”

• On February 27, 2010, at the Douglas County Jail, when Licensed Mental Health Practitioner Denise Gaines spoke with Mr. Jenkins, and later reported that he had talked about the “horrific acts that the Egyptian god Opophus wants him to inflict on Catholics, whites, and children.”

• On August 7, 2010, when Ms. Gaines again spoke with Mr. Jenkins and reported that he said that “Opophus is telling him that the day is coming soon that ‘they will see,’ (and)…Opophus taking him over and him killing others once released from prison if he doesn’t get some help.”

• On December 11, 2010, when Ms. Gaines reported that Mr. Jenkins seemed “scared about being released because of the violence that he is (through Opophus) inflict on people and police.”

• On March 25, 2011, when Ms. Gaines recorded that Mr. Jenkins “continued to express thoughts about doing murderous acts on society (i.e., killing/torturing nuns, children, etc.).”

• On December 23, 2011, when Mr. Jenkins told Dr. Baker that he “feels he will hurt others when released back into the community.”

• On February 1, 2012, when Mr. Jenkins told Dr. Weilage that “he wants help and if he does not get it from us then his first thought when he gets out is that he needs to ‘get some weapons.’”

• On April 19, 2012, when Dr. Baker reported that Mr. Jenkins expressed “concerns about what he will do once he is released from DOC.”

• On January 15, 2013, when Mr. Jenkins said to Dr. Gibson that “he views everyone as ‘prey’ and followed-up with a number of violent images.”

• On January 19, 2013, when a nurse at TSCI reported having heard Mr. Jenkins saying that he was “afraid he will get out and ‘rip someone’s heart out.’”

• On January 25, 2013, when Mr. Jenkins said to Dr. Gibson that, when he was released, he would “give in to ‘Opophus’ who wanted him to kill ‘man, woman and child’ of ‘every age group.’”

• On March 7, 2013, when Mr. Jenkins made a statement to DCS social worker Kathy Foster in regard to the “intended violence that he will commit if he is discharged to the community,” and told her that he “does not want to discharge to the community because he will kill people and cannibalize them and drink their blood.”

• On March 14, 2013, when Mr. Jenkins met with Dr. Wetzel and expressed “repeated thoughts of harming other people in the form of cannibalism and ‘waging war.”’

• On April 5, 2013, when Ms. Foster, the social worker, met with Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Jenkins “stated a couple of times that he is ‘not kidding,’ it will be bad’ when he gets out.”

• On April 30, 2013, when Ms. Foster had yet another meeting with Mr. Jenkins, and Mr. Jenkins told her “that when he gets out ‘it will begin’ and…made allusions to killing ‘without prejudice.’”

Jenkins was released from prison July 30, 2013 and is accused of four counts of first-degree murder, killings which occurred within a month of his discharge.

A court hearing to determine if Jenkins is competent to stand trial is set for February 12.

In a brief letter to Lux, Dr. Randy Kohl, the Deputy Director of Health Services for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, insisted the report was way off-base.

“NCDS disagrees with the factual allegations, but due to pending litigation we must decline to respond at this time,” wrote Kohl.

State Sen. Brad Ashford calls the report a “wake-up call” for lawmakers and the governor.

Contact Joe Jordan at joe@nebraskawatchdog.org and listen to Joe every Monday morning at 7:40 on KFAB radio in Omaha.

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