A former Texas special education teacher and ex-clown accused of fatally shooting his wife downed drugs and dropped dead in court moments before receiving a decades-long prison sentence for murder.
James Paul Anderson, 39, suffered a medical emergency on Friday shortly after arriving at Criminal Justice Center in Houston, where he was going to be slapped with a 35-year stretch behind bars for killing 34-year-old Victoria Anderson in 2023, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
“Preliminary info is that a defendant ingested drugs while awaiting sentencing at the criminal courthouse and was rushed away in ambulance,” Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen posted on X.
A bailiff administered naloxone, a fast-acting drug that reverses opioid overdoses, before Anderson was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:05 am., officials said.
As authorities probed the fatal episode, sources told KHOU that the accused murderer’s attorney found a brown bag with a crystal-like substance, believed to be meth, in a nearby trash can.
The judge immediately shut down the courtroom and declared it a possible crime scene.
Witnesses said the former clown — reportedly known as Mister Jazzz — spoke briefly with his defense lawyer upon arriving to court, then asked for a few moments alone before spitting something into the garbage can, the outlet reported.
Minutes later, Anderson started vomiting.
An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of death.
Anderson, a former Cleveland Independent School District educator, was arrested on Sept. 24, 2023, after an hours-long standoff with police, who had responded to his Kingwood home when his wife alerted 911 that her husband was threatening to shoot her.
The emergency dispatcher then heard the sound of gunfire, police said at the time.
Anderson let the couple’s three-year-old son leave the home when police arrived, then barricaded himself inside with his slain wife’s body before surrendering about five hours later.
Authorities reportedly said there had been prior reports of domestic issues at the home, and that the victim had filed for divorce roughly a month before she was ruthlessly gunned down.
