A southwest Iowa man who was 17-years old when he committed a serious crime 15-years ago and was sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of incarceration without the possibility of parole, had his Taylor County District Court sentence vacated today (Friday) by the Iowa Supreme Court – meaning the previous judgement is legally void. The High Court ordered the case of Jarrod Dale Majors be remanded back to the District Court with specific instructions.

Majors broke into the Bedford home of his neighbors, Jamie and Holly Peckham on May 31st, 2002, while the couple was attending a church meeting. He laid in wait, hidden in a bedroom closet wearing a ski mask and gloves, and armed with a large knife. Majors also had a .22 caliber rifle with a plastic pop bottle attached to the barrel, to act as a silencer.

When the couple came home and Holly entered the bedroom, Majors emerged from the closet and attacked her. While she fought him off, her husband ran into the room and took the rifle away from Majors before tackling him to the floor. Majors attempted to use the machete on Jamie Peckham. Holly Peckham escaped and ran to a neighbor’s home. The neighbor, Gene Ehlers, helped to wrestle the machete away from Majors.

During his court case, Majors pled guilty to attempted murder and burglary in the second-degree. He was sentenced to 25-years in prison with a minimum of 21-years. He was also sentenced to 10-years in prison for the burglary charge. The sentences ran consecutively. Majors sought and received a re-sentencing hearing in Sept., 2015.

Following the hearing, the District Court again sentenced Majors to 25-years in prison for attempted murder, with 70% to be served prior to being eligible for parole. He was also re-sentenced to 10 years on the Burglary charge. After reviewing his appeal and the court records, the Iowa Supreme Court concluded the District Court abused its discretion by imposing a minimum period of incarceration without eligibility for parole, and remanded the case for re-sentencing.