He didn’t like to be around people, wouldn’t even go to the grocery store in the daytime. Hear from the reporters who chronicled the long, twisted, fatal journey of the alleged Appalachian Trail killer. He started drinking and using marijuana as a child. A judge ordered a mental health evaluation, but Jordan was found to be competent and released, according to court documents. Instead, Lopes said, she had him banned from her apartment by housing management. A wilted bouquet of wildflowers marked the primitive campsite on the Appalachian Trail where Ronald Sanchez Jr. (inset) was killed. When Jordan caught up to the woman, he stabbed her multiple times, Childers wrote. Southwest Virginia Regional Jail/globe staff photo illustration, On the trail of the ‘Sovereign’: Behind the story. Alleged Appalachian Trail killer makes first court appearance 2019-05-14 | Boston Herald May 14-- May 14--A West Yarmouth man accused of killing one hiker and stabbing another on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia was ordered Monday by a federal judge to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. by: ... 43, of Oklahoma, and injuring a female hiker on the trail in Wythe County on May 11, 2019. Brian King, a spokesman with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy said in the past 45 years there have only been eight homicides on the Appalachian Trail. As always, I welcome this transition, but each time I do so with a small dose of seemingly incurable apprehension. “He was so far gone.”. Night fell. “He was petrified,” Rose said. Jordan’s public defender declined to comment following the hearing. Officers confiscated a 17-inch knife and charged him with drug and alcohol offenses, but he was released on probation seven days later. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s mission is to protect, manage, and advocate for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. He told Tynan and other friends he was bipolar. 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Hensley said the judge ordered Jordan not to return to the Appalachian Trail, but he was not charged with assault because none of the hikers were willing to testify in court. Jordan walked to the water’s edge and scooped up a frog. By Elliot Hannon. Suddenly, briefly, he seemed to find happiness. James L. Jordan, 30, originally from West Yarmouth, was arrested Saturday morning after he allegedly attacked a group of hikers, ultimately stabbing one to death, authorities said. Ahead of him, prosecutors say, two frightened hikers barrelled down the narrow and twisting section of the Appalachian Trail, out of Jordan’s world and into the backcountry of Wythe County, Va. Jordan, 30, faces federal charges in the attack that left hiker Ronald Sanchez Jr. dead and a woman injured. He brandished a knife, hissed at hikers, and spent nights screaming while other campers hid in their tents. His cases were continued without a finding, and he was ordered to obtain counseling in Vermont. Posted: Sep 22, 2020 / 02:57 PM EDT / Updated: Sep 22, 2020 / 06:09 PM EDT. In 2019, Ronald S. Sanchez Jr. was stabbed to death in Virginia. He was close with another teenager in the complex, and the boy’s mother took him in. No one was certain of exactly when Wildes picked up and moved to Winooski, Vt., an old mill city near Burlington, and no one knew how long afterward Jordan followed, though most people estimated he was around 16 years old. She gave the Appalachian Trail website these handy hints about spotting a potential attackers on the Trail. His hair hung long and shaggy and he started to paint his nails black. Instead, he kept moving, from state to state, hooking up with a group of fellow travelers who held regular gatherings in forests across the country. James L. Jordan has been charged with murder and assault with intent to commit murder after a bloody attack early Saturday morning on the Appalachian Trail. He was a hazard in plain view, a long, loud cry for help that was never really answered. .”. He will be transferred to a psychiatric facility. Wildes didn’t force her son into treatment. The campers had unzipped just far enough to deliver it into a waiting hand. The housing complex of 16 apartments looks out onto cracked blacktop, a threadbare place on a dead-end street. He pleaded guilty, according to court documents, and was sentenced to a few days behind bars. He opened up about his friends killed in combat. But they, too, had failed to see the danger and released him days later. Most heartbreaking, the woman said: the way Jordan would drape his arm across her shoulders and tell her, “I love you, Ma.” She would reply, “I love you too, kid.”. Jordan is charged with murder within the special maritime territorial jurisdiction of the United States and assault with the intent to murder within the special maritime territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The last was in 2011. James Jordan would sometimes sleep in this baseball field dugout in Winooski, Vt., after arguing with his mother. Back home, neighbor Lynette Lopes could hear Jordan and his mother, Dale Wildes, fighting inside their apartment. May 12, 2019, 11:57 PM UTC / Updated May 13, 2019, 2:55 PM UTC. “He thinks he’s seeing something, another layer that’s not always clearly there,” said Tynan. But he said he could no longer bear the smallness of his life, contained entirely within Cape Cod and Winooski. His crimes were never serious enough to lock him up for long. Alleged Appalachian Trail killer makes first…, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Howie: Without Trump to blame, COVID turns corner, 222 Mass. An audio recording of the court session where his mental health was discussed has been destroyed. 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