Brutal attack blamed on ‘Jewish Mafia plot’

A US citizen in Tasmania’s women’s prison may be deported for smashing her boyfriend in the head with a hammer because she was convinced he was part of a Jewish Mafia plot to kill her and harvest her blood.

On Monday, Jennifer Lee Jones, 44, pleaded guilty to a count of wounding and assault in the Supreme Court in Burnie in relation to the incident at the house she shared with her then boyfriend in Lapoinya in the North-West.

The court heard on May 20 last year, Jones told her boyfriend people were trying to kill her. She claimed her father was a member of the Jewish Mafia and had put out a contract on her life.

Jones then rang her father in the US and her boyfriend spoke to him on the phone.

The court heard that when her boyfriend failed to believe her life was under threat, Jones formed the opinion he was part of the plot. She told police when she was arrested that her boyfriend was building a silencer in the shed of the home they shared.

Jones had also put tin foil on the windows of the house to deflect infra-red rays.

On the morning in question, she asked her boyfriend to come into the bedroom.

She then struck him in the head two times with the hammer – not to kill him, the court heard, but to incapacitate him.

She also slashed him with a knife and bit him as he fought to disarm her. The man finally fled the house and was found bleeding on the road when police arrived.

He had two open wounds to his head, bite marks and a laceration to his jaw.

Jones had been living in Tasmania under a permanent residency visa since 2005. She returned to California in 2018 but returned to the state in 2019. The court was told Jones had been treated with antipsychotic medication in prison and her condition had stabilised.

While a forensic phycologist’s report said she had reduced moral culpability at the time of the crimes because of her heightened perception of a threat to her life, she was still legally responsible for her actions.

The court heard Jones had no support network in Tasmania.

Prosecutor Katie Edwards said there was no doubt Jones suffered mental health issues. But she told Acting Justice Shane Marshall that Jones did not accept she was mentally ill.

“There is no housing available to her on her release and without an order or structure in place, stress could ensue and impact adversely on her mental state,” she told the court.

Acting Justice Marshall said it was in the best interest of Jones and the general public that a report be obtained to gauge the risk she posed to herself and others if released without support.

She will be sentenced in April and deportation could be considered.