Eighteen years after being convicted for the murder of his wife, Jack D. McCrady, 48, of Belpre, was denied parole during his first parole hearing at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution this week.

According to the parole board decision document, McCrady’s parole request was denied because “…due to the serious nature of the crime, the release of the inmate into society would create undue risk to public safety…”

It will be nearly 10 years-117 months- before McCrady is eligible for parole again.

McCrady, who was an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper at the time of the murder, is currently serving a prison term of 15 years to life after shooting his wife, 30-year-old Jenifer McCrady on Sept. 19, 1996.

“It was just a very sad case and an awful situation,” said Major Brian Schuck with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, who was a friend of the McCradys.

Schuck was also an investigator in the case.

“I knew him and Jenifer as well as their families on both sides,” he said. “This was a shock to a lot of people-her death and burial in the middle of nowhere.”

Jenifer McCrady’s body was found buried in a shallow grave along a remote oil well access road off a Belpre Township road in the Little Hocking area.

Schuck said Jack McCrady had driven his wife to that location in her car, buried the body, then drove the vehicle to the Belpre boat ramp where he left it and walked back to their home.

It was two days later that McCrady showed up at Schuck’s door and reported that his wife was missing.

“We talked awhile, but I told him he would have to file the report with the Belpre Police,” Schuck said. “So he reported it to Belpre Sgt. Steve Garvey.”

During a phone conversation with Garvey later, Schuck asked about McCrady’s report, and soon discovered the story McCrady shared with Schuck differed from what he told Garvey.

“The stories just didn’t match up, and that’s when we knew something wasn’t right,” Schuck said. “But I never suspected Jackie until after I talked with Sgt. Garvey.”

Schuck said he and McCrady had spent weeks together during corrections academy training in Huttonsville, W.Va. and the two men served with the Wood County Sheriff’s Office prior to Schuck transferring to the Washington County Sheriff’s office and McCrady joining the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Schuck said evidence collected during the investigation included a gun found at McCrady’s home that ballistics analysis showed would have been the type used in the murder, although the rifling of the firearm’s barrel had been drilled to remove any evidence that it had been fired.

A set of pillows with a print that matched the comforter in which Jenifer’s body was wrapped were also discovered in the home.

Current Washington County Prosecutor Jim Schneider prosecuted the case.

“There was no motive brought out in the case,” he said. “It had come out in court that he was using steroids to build up his body mass, but we don’t know if that’s what caused him to murder his wife.”

Schuck said the couple had two young sons who were raised by Jenifer McCrady’s parents after her death.

“She was just a very nice person,” he said. “And I still feel bad for the family.”