He stabbed a Biloxi man 29 times, then admitted killing to police in a drunken rant
With blood on his hands, a drunk and rambling David Thomas Jordan said he had just killed a man because he disrespected him.
“That son of a b---- is deader than s---,” Jordan said in one rant to Biloxi Police Capt. Roger Wiggins the night of the murder. “I killed that son of a b----.”
A jury Wednesday convicted Jordan of second-degree murder in the Feb. 10, 2022, stabbing death of Joseph Houseworth, 53.
Jordan stabbed Houseworth 29 times with a kitchen knife in the victim’s makeshift cabin in the woods. Houseworth lived in the woods between Trustmark Bank and an assisted living facility on Popp’s Ferry Road near Cedar Lake Road.
Jordan said Houseworth invited him over to have drinks and pizza.
The drunken Jordan said Houseworth had threatened to hit him.
Judge Randi Mueller sentenced Jordan to 40 years in prison, suspending ten years and leaving Jordan a 30-year day-for-day prison sentence.
Prior to sentencing, Houseworth’s sister, Cindy Parker, spoke on behalf of her family.
“He has family,” she said. “He has nephews. Unlike Mr. Jordan, my brother does not have a violent past. He was very respectful of others. Not once did I hear Mr. Jordan say he’s sorry.”
Instead, Jordan’s chief concern after the verdict came back was his plan to appeal the conviction.
“My brother did live a little differently, but that’s not because he didn’t have a house,” Parker said. “He was just a really good brother, a good son, and he was a big part of our family, and we loved him very much.”
Jordan, Parker said, “doesn’t care he destroyed a family.”
Assistant District Attorney Billy Stage told the judge Jordan had arrests dating back to as early as 1975 on various charges, including aggravated assault, battery, and criminal damage to property, most of which occurred in Georgia.
Biloxi police find man’s body
Biloxi police first encountered Jordan after responding to the February 2022 call in a parking lot across from the wooded area where Houseworth lived.
In body camera footage played during the trial, Jordan tells police to follow a path in the woods to find Houseworth’s home.
Inside, Biloxi police officers described how they found Houseworth’s bloodied body lying in his makeshift bed with his boots still on. There was no sign of a disturbance.
Jordan told police at the scene that he attacked because he feared Houseworth would hit him in the head, adding that he messed with the wrong man.
Jordan was sober when he testified earlier Wednesday, claiming he stabbed the man in self-defense after he pulled a gun on him, threatened to shoot him, and bury him in a hole in the woods.
Stabbing in a makeshift Biloxi cabin
According to Jordan, he passed out after drinking liquor with Houseworth. When he came to, he claimed Houseworth was standing over him with his crotch 18 inches from his face.
Jordan said he felt threatened, grabbed a knife from an ice chest, and stabbed Houseworth in self-defense.
His attorneys, Angela Broun and Phil Wittman, said, “Jordan genuinely believed he was going to suffer great bodily harm.“
They called the killing manslaughter instead of a more serious offense.
The prosecutors said the evidence showed otherwise.
“That night, he (Jordan) said this guy disrespected me,” Huffman said in closing arguments. “He said he (Houseworth) was going to kick me in the head.’
Huffman recited some of Jordan’s words for the jury during closing arguments:
“’...You know why I stabbed him to death? He was running his mouth.’”
“Those are his words, his words,” Huffman said. “He bragged about what he did.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2023 at 7:52 PM.
