Less than a month after the suicide of Missouri’s state auditor, one of the official’s top aides has also been found dead in what appears to be a suicide, police said Monday.

Robert “Spence” Jackson, 45, was found dead Sunday evening in the bedroom of his apartment in Jefferson City, apparently having killed himself with a gun, Jefferson City police said in a statement.

Jackson was a veteran of Republican state politics and at the time of his death was embroiled in in-party fighting, having called for the resignation of the party’s state chairman.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

His apparent suicide comes less than a month after his boss,

Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich, also shot himself to death at his home in suburban St. Louis.

Schweich, 54, had been re-elected in November after serving for four years and announced in January that he would seek his party’s nomination for governor.

His death on Feb. 26 came after he had complained about the tactics of rival Republicans in the primary campaign.

Police said they were still investigating the circumstances of Jackson’s death. An autopsy is planned for Monday.

A spokeswoman at the Missouri State Auditor’s office said the office had no comment about Jackson’s death.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount