GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied an appeal by two brothers convicted of a 1989 murder in Newaygo County.
Paul and Matthew Jones were convicted of the murder of Shannon Siders in 2014. Siders was 18 at the time of her death. Matthew Jones was convicted of 1st degree murder, while Paul was acquitted of first degree murder, but convicted of murder in the second degree. They were tried by separate juries.
Siders disappeared in July 1989. Her body was found by a hunter in the Manistee National Forest near Newaygo several months later. The prosecution maintained that Siders went out “partying” with the brothers and other teens and the brothers drove her to a secluded location for sex. She declined and they hit her with Paul’s car and then took turns raping and beating her to death.
The appeals were based on the defense claims that some of the testimony admitted as evidence was “hearsay.” The appeals court rejected that claim.
Matthew Jones is serving a sentence of life in prison. Paul Jones is serving 30-75 years in prison.
