On May 23, 1981 in the state of Jacksonville, Florida, Leo Jones was convicted of the murder of a police officer, Thomas Szafranski. The officer was hit in the head by a sniper bullet while sitting in his squad car in downtown Jacksonville. Leo Jones was later arrested that same day at a nearby apartment where two Winchester rifles were found and sentenced to death by electrocution. Only one of the rifles found contained Jones' fingerprints. Jones confessed to the murder, saying he killed the officer due to police beatings, but later claimed the confession was a lie and that police forced him to confess and had a gun pointed at his head. After the arrest Jones was taken to a medical hospital and was treated for minor injuries such as cuts and bruises on his face. A retired police officer named Cleveland Smith, came forward and announced that Officer Lynwood Mundy, the same officer who allegedly beat Jones, had bragged to Smith about beating Jones after the arrest. Smith also said he saw Mundy receive a confession from a suspect with a firm grip on his genitals. This evidence may almost prove that Mundy did in fact beat Jones, but it has never been proven. Jones wasn't the only one to say another man had killed the officer, about a dozen other people also indicated it was a different man, and other witnesses said they heard the criminal brag about shooting the officer. 'official. The case had sent Jones to death row for sixteen years. Suspicions began to arise when the main witnesses against Jones had recanted, two of the main police officers had randomly left the police department, a… medium of paper… were “less than reliable and no other evidence li they supported. He also established that these were just rumors and that Schofield did not say them immediately after the murder” (Juan Ignacio Bianco). innocent was denied and stated that it does not clearly prove innocence. "I testify that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger," were the last words Jones constantly repeated to his religious advisor El Hajj Rabbanu Muhammad during preparations for the execution. On March 24, 1998, Jones was executed and Jones' quest for innocence was officially over. Works Cited White, Juan Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers." Leo Alexander Jones | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers. Np, nd Web. March 31. 2014.