Peacemaker a free man following acquittal in Watertown murder trial (Audio)

March 6, 2024
Mike Tanner

WATERTOWN, S.D.–For three and a half years, Jeremiah Peacemaker sat in the Codington County Jail awaiting trial for the brutal killing of Kendra Owen.

Today, Peacemaker is a free man.

A jury found him not guilty on all three counts he faced in the 2020 killing of Owen, a 28 year-old Native American woman whose decapitated and decomposing body was found in her small Watertown apartment.

With their verdict, the jury sent a clear message to the prosecution that they did not reach the burden of proof required for a conviction.

Attorney General Marty Jackley prosecuted the case. KWAT News asked him if there’s anything he would have done differently at trial…

And his message to the Owen family????

Peacemaker sat in the Codington County Jail for just shy of 1,300 days before the jury set him free Tuesday night.