In Oregon, Reina Jackson was convicted after prosecutors tied the fatal home invasion to a long custody fight.

COQUILLE, Ore. — An Oregon woman was sentenced May 1 to life in prison with parole possible after 25 years for the 2021 killing of her ex-husband, Dr. Craig Jackson, at his North Bend home.

The sentence followed a three-week trial in Coos County, where a jury convicted Reina Gabriela Jackson of second-degree murder on April 24. Prosecutors said the killing grew from a yearslong divorce and custody dispute, then ended in a planned attack by Jackson and two other people. The Oregon Department of Justice said Craig Jackson, a Navy veteran and physician at Bay Clinic in Coos Bay, had full custody of the couple’s daughter before he was killed.

The case reached its final court stage nearly five years after the shooting. Craig Jackson was killed in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2021, inside the North Bend home he shared with his new wife. Prosecutors said Reina Jackson and two men entered the house, where Craig Jackson woke up and fought with the intruders. His wife hid under a bed, heard a gunshot and later found him on the floor in a hallway outside the bedroom. Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Jackson was “building a new life for himself and his daughter” when he was killed.

Deputies with the Coos County Sheriff’s Office found Craig Jackson dead with gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. His wife called police after the shooting, but authorities said she had trouble communicating because of a language barrier. She contacted a friend, who helped relay information to police. Investigators later reviewed surveillance video that showed three masked people, described as two men and one woman, near the home. Authorities have not publicly identified the two men they say took part in the attack.

Evidence presented by prosecutors put Reina Jackson at the center of the plan. Officers went to her home after the killing and found a fire burning in the fireplace. The home was so hot that the windows were open, and officers said the heat made them uncomfortable inside. Investigators later found a map of Craig Jackson’s home in Reina Jackson’s vehicle, even though she denied having been inside. They also found a $40,000 check that appeared to bear Craig Jackson’s signature. Friends told authorities he would not have given her that kind of money, and police believed the signature was forged.

The couple’s history stretched back years before the killing. Craig Jackson met Reina Jackson, then known as Reina Gabriela Matute-Ruano, in Guatemala while he was attending medical school after serving in the Navy. They married in 2008. Their daughter, Isabella, was born in 2013, and the family moved to Oregon in 2014 after Craig Jackson finished his medical training. Reina Jackson filed for divorce in 2016, and the divorce was granted that year. The custody fight continued, and a judge later awarded Craig Jackson full custody of Isabella.

Prosecutors said the strain between the former spouses grew as Craig Jackson formed new relationships and moved forward with his life. In 2018, authorities said Reina Jackson broke a window at his home after seeing him with another woman and also assaulted him. Craig Jackson later married a woman he met in China in 2020. Prosecutors said spousal support he had been paying Reina Jackson was set to end in 2021, the same year he was killed. At trial, the state argued that Reina Jackson became angry over his new marriage, his custody win and the end of support payments.

After the killing, Reina Jackson left the United States with Isabella and went to Guatemala. Prosecutors said she withdrew the girl from school before leaving. A Coos County grand jury returned a secret indictment on May 24, 2023, charging Reina Jackson, also known as Reina Gabriela Matute-Ruano, with second-degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. U.S. marshals arrested her in Atlanta in June 2023 after she returned to the United States from Guatemala. She was later extradited to Coos County, where the case moved toward trial.

During trial, the defense disputed the state’s theory and pointed to Craig Jackson’s new wife. Defense attorney Andrew Coit said during opening statements that the wife should be viewed as a suspect, citing marital issues and divorce papers found at the home. Prosecutors rejected that account and focused on Reina Jackson’s custody fight, financial issues and alleged planning. The jury convicted Jackson of second-degree murder after hearing evidence from investigators, court records and witnesses. Before sentencing, prosecutors moved forward on the murder count, and the judge imposed a life term with a 25-year minimum.

Officials said the case was handled by Oregon Department of Justice Senior Assistant Attorneys General Brad Kalbaugh and Gavin Bruce, with help from the Coos County District Attorney’s Office. Oregon State Police and the North Bend Police Department led the investigation, with assistance from Coos Bay police, the Coos County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. Rayfield said the sentence reflected “the gravity of what was done.” The case also left a family divided across countries, with officials saying Isabella has not had contact with Craig Jackson’s family since being taken to Guatemala.

Jackson has been in custody since her 2023 arrest and now faces decades in prison before any parole review. The two men prosecutors say joined the home invasion have not been publicly named, leaving that part of the investigation unresolved.

Author note: Last updated May 24, 2026.