Accused killer Artilius Jordan to Judge Crane: The deputies here is putting something in my food

Accused killer Artilius Jordan was not having an easy time of it as he waited for a bed to open at the Fulton State Hospital so he could undergo a medical evaluation.

Jordan, 48, who is charged with the Christmas Eve 2017 murder of Sean Harris, 43, Joplin, was afraid to eat his meals, he told Judge Gayle Crane in a letter dated January 28.

The letter is included in Jordan's Jasper County Circuit Court file.

"Ms. Crane, I am not making this up. The deputies here is putting something in my food. I know how I felt bfore I eat the food and it is making my head hurt bad."

Jordan wrote that the jailers on the third shift were no only putting something in his food, but they were using a special means to spike his drink.

"It tastes like spit is in it."

Jordan speculated the deputies had it in for him because of the man he is accused of killing. "(Sen Harris) was a regular in this jail and I'm not a regular jailhouse person. There's always a certain cup for me, a certain tray set to the side for me."








Jordan professed his innocence.

"I did not kill him. That's not what happened and i'm going to prove it to the court, if  God is willing and i am still living."

It is uncertain how Jordan can claim his innocence since he insists he cannot remember what happened that night.

"I only remember bits and pieces because I had been drinking and drugging and was not taking my medication.

"But I am not a killer. I come from a Christian family, a righteous family, a God fearing family."

Jordan said his mother was a Christian woman and had raised him and his siblings propertly, "but I strayed from the word of God and started seeing and hanging around with the wrong people."

Jordan asked Judge Crane to send him to the McDonald County Jail until he could be transported to Fulton. His case is still on hold with the next hearing scheduled for April 29.

According to the probable cause statement,Jordan shot Harris in cold blood because he believed Harris was having sex with his girlfriend.

Jordan went to a home at 627 S. Byers Avenue where his girlfriend was and where Harris was visiting to confront him, according to the statement. Jordan was accompanied by Moses Ramsey and Joseph Czahor.

Harris was coming down the stairs of the apartment building when Jordan pulled a handgun and with Ramsey's encouragement, shot Harris at least twice, with one of the shots hitting him in the chest, according to the probable cause statement. Harris died at Freeman West Hospital.

Initially, Ramsey was also charged with first degree murder, but that charge was eventually dropped.