Was FBI agent involved in missing fortune of murdered heiress? Investigator claims agency is covering up gruesome death of grocery-chain recluse who lived with $15million stuffed in bags around her home

• Marjorie Jackson was shot dead in burglary at Indiana home in 1977
• Widow of $25m grocery magnate kept up to $15m cash stashed at home
• Two burglars were caught after buying around 6 cars with cash
• One was charged with murder, the other with burglary and arson
• However, investigation did not account for around $1.6m of stolen cash
• Now, a reporter claims to have evidence the FBI agent responsible for finding the cash had put millions in a Swiss bank account soon after

By Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:03 EST, 20 September 2015 | Updated: 08:56 EST, 28 September 2015

Mysterious: Millionaire grocery heiress Marjorie Jackson, 67, was found dead at her Indiana home in 1977 - and almost all of the millions of dollars in cash that she had stashed about her home were missing

It is one of the most notorious unsolved burglaries and murders to date.

Millionaire grocery heiress Marjorie Jackson, 67, was found dead at her Indiana home in 1977 - and almost all of the bags of cash worth at least $15 million that she had stashed about the home in trash bags and drawers were missing.

Despite national attention, the case was never resolved, and her estate believes $1.6 million is still unaccounted for.

Now, almost 40 years on, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigator claims he has evidence the FBI is covering up key information that could implicate a federal agent in the bizarre murder.

Don Devereux told the Indy Star his shocking theory developed after he obtained public records through Freedom of Information Act requests and was told that some from the FBI were 'partially destroyed' - something he had never encountered in 40 years of journalism. 

Uniquely, he said, the bureau also failed to redact the name of the agent who recovered the money, which is normally protocol.

And after looking into this agent's records, he found millions of dollars had been put in a Swiss bank account then transferred back to the United States year later to pay for property in the Caribbean.  

'The whole thing leaps out at you as irregular,' he told the Indy Star. 'And even though we're talking about something that happened a long time ago, I don't believe that is any excuse to ignore it now.'

Jackson, the widow of Standard Grocery CEO Chester Jackson worth $25 million, began stashing her fortune in their Indianapolis home a year before her death after she heard about an embezzlement scandal.

Her husband, who died in 1970, had always kept around $2 million of their wealth in money bags at home. But within a few months, Marjorie had between $8 million and $15 million cash stocked up.

She also acted strangely, according to the Indy Star citing neighbors' comments. She allegedly talked to birds and left her land to grow wild and unkempt. Two Cadillacs lay unused in the garage.

And inside her home, a table was permanently set for dinner in case Jesus arose. Around the house lay wrapped presents with labels: 'To God from Marjorie', 'To Jesus Christ from Marjorie Jackson'.

The news of her eccentricity - and her fortune - were no secret in the neighborhood. 

Early in 1977, a teenager burglarized her house and made off with $800,000, which he admitted to stealing but Jackson would not prosecute.

Four months later, two men - Howard Willard and Manuel Lee Robinson - broke in and took off with $1 million. 

When they returned a few days later to load up some more, they ran into Jackson, fired one bullet into her stomach and left her to die on the kitchen floor.

Her body was discovered by firefighters who were alerted to a small fire at the property - apparently an attempt by Willard and Robinson to cover their tracks.

Within days, police received a call from an Indianapolis car salesman suspicious of two men who bought two new cars each - and paid in cash. 

They first found Robinson in the city, with $1.6 million cash under his bed. Then they traced Willard and his girlfriend in Arizona, after they bought two trucks for $50,000 cash.

During the trial, Willard's ex-wife revealed millions of cash, which hadn't been splashed on cars, had also been buried in various spots across an unspecified desert.

On record, $1.6 million was found buried in one location. 

Devereux's investigation suggests that was merely a fraction of the amount uncovered by the now-deceased FBI agent during the trial.

Presenting his findings to the FBI in April this year, Devereux wrote: 'The crucial question (...) should be whether the ultimate source of those funds was the money still ostensibly missing from the Jackson robbery/homicide.'

According to the Indy Star, the FBI responded: 'Your information was provided to the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, as well as the FBI Phoenix field office, for appropriate action.'

The FBI has yet to respond to Daily Mail Online's request for a comment.  

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