Nichole Jackson spent her life caring for others.

Jackson, a mother of two girls, worked as a licensed practical nurse, a job her family said defined her. Jackson loved to cook, family members said, and had a particular affinity for all things Mickey Mouse. 

“She was always a very good mom, always there when you needed her,” said one of Jackson’s two daughters, Katelynn Sanchez.

A lifelong resident of the suburbs a half-hour west of Cleveland, Ohio, Jackson came to Maine with her boyfriend Dane Burke for a travel nurse contract. 

Jackson, 46, had only been living in the state for a few months when she was killed in Skowhegan. Police have charged Burke, 55, in connection with her murder.

Sanchez and Jackson’s ex-husband of more than 20 years said their family warned Jackson to get away from Burke for the three or four years they were together. Burke struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues, and there were allegations of domestic abuse, they said.

But it was perhaps Jackson’s caring nature that, in part, led her to leave her previous marriage for Burke, they said. 

“She wanted to fix him, I guess,” said Sanchez, 20, in a phone call from Ohio. “She loved him for some reason. The past two years, I was pretty angry about that. I just wanted to protect her because I knew he wasn’t a good guy.”

Skowhegan police found Jackson’s body late at night Jan. 14 at 361 W. Front St. after receiving a report of a person, later identified as Jackson, not breathing, the Maine State Police said. The two were living in a camper trailer parked in a field, where police were seen investigating the day after the reported death.

An autopsy ruled Jackson’s death a homicide, caused by blunt force and sharp force trauma. State police Major Crimes Unit detectives ruled Burke a suspect in the killing and obtained a warrant to arrest him, police said.

Then, on Jan. 17, police in Lowell, Massachusetts, spotted a vehicle Burke was believed to be driving, and Burke led police on a multistate pursuit stretching some 50 miles.

The chase ended in Dunbarton, New Hampshire, where Burke crashed into a tree and barricaded himself in his vehicle, according to the New Hampshire State Police. Burke was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

New Hampshire State Police this week could not provide an update on Burke’s condition, spokesperson Michal Sventek said via email. Sventek did not answer whether Burke remained in a hospital or had been transferred to jail.

The agency said previously Burke would be extradited to Maine and face additional charges in New Hampshire stemming from the chase. A search of Burke’s name in the state’s online court records database did not produce any results. It is not known if Burke has an attorney in the New Hampshire proceedings.

Extraditing Burke back to Maine could take some time, said Danna Hayes, spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General.

Hayes said Thursday that the office, which prosecutes all homicides in the state, had received no further word from New Hampshire authorities regarding extradition proceedings.

A Maine State Police spokesperson referred questions to the AG’s office.

Maine court records, including the police affidavit supporting the arrest warrant, have not been available to view. The online version of the case record does not list an attorney for Burke. He has not appeared in court or entered a plea to the murder charge.

LIFE IN OHIO

Jackson was born Feb. 13, 1979, and grew up in North Ridgeville, Ohio. As an adult she lived in the neighboring city of Elyria, according to an obituary published online. Her family laid her to rest Friday in a North Ridgeville cemetery.

With Steven Jackson, whom she married in 2003, she had two daughters: Sanchez and Kelsey Jackson, 13, who lives with her father.

Steven Jackson, 46, of Elyria, Ohio, said his ex-wife was a loving parent, with an especially close relationship with their younger daughter.

Sanchez recalled fond memories of her mother eating funnel cake at local fairs and soup and grilled cheese at local craft shows. Sanchez said she welcomed her husband, Anthony, like a son and supported their relationship even though they were high schoolers when they met.

“She never complained about anything about the kids,” Steven Jackson said in a phone interview.

The two split up about three or four years ago when Nichole Jackson left him for Burke, Steven Jackson said. She met Burke through one of her nursing patients.

The prior marriage was not always happy, Steven Jackson said. Nichole Jackson struggled with arthritis and spent a lot of her time outside of work at home cooking or sleeping, he said. After the divorce, he said he maintained a cordial, familial relationship with her and her parents.

“She fell in with the wrong guy, but she was one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Steven Jackson said. “She just made a bad choice when it came to this person.”

Family members said they repeatedly warned Nichole Jackson to leave Burke. They said Burke had a temper, seemed to suffer from bipolar disorder and had drug issues.

But Sanchez said although her mother sometimes complained about Burke, she would also speak highly of him and say he made her feel happy.

In the spring of 2025, Sanchez said she convinced her mother to go to the police after Jackson showed her visible bruising that Burke allegedly caused. Sanchez and Steven Jackson said they were unsure of what ultimately came of the case.

Jail records from Lorain County, Ohio, show in May 2025 that Elyria police arrested a man, who Sanchez said is the same Burke, on charges of simple assault and domestic violence. He posted bond, the records show.

A spokesperson for the Elyria Police Department forwarded an inquiry for more information on the arrest to the department’s records division; the request was pending as of Thursday.

MOVE TO MAINE

Both Sanchez and Steven Jackson speculated the criminal matter may have influenced Nichole Jackson’s decision to move out of state with Burke, although Steven Jackson said her main motivation was to make more money with the travel nurse contract.

There were positive aspects of the move and being with Burke. Steven Jackson said it may have let Nichole Jackson get away from the judgment of her family. Burke had also introduced her to medical cannabis, which gave her more energy. And in Maine, she became more adventurous, spending more time outside — even buying a snowmobile.

“She did seem really happy there,” Sanchez said. “In all the pictures there, she was smiling. And she never really liked her picture taken, so that was a pretty big thing.”

According to her family, Jackson was contracted by an agency and was placed at Sandy River Center, a nursing home in Farmington. The director there, reached via telephone, declined to comment, saying she needed approval from an attorney first.

In Skowhegan, Jackson was living with Burke in the camper off U.S. Route 2, also known as West Front Street. Jackson had used retirement savings to buy the camper trailer and fund the move, her ex-husband and daughter said.

Tommy Ignoffo, a traveling community solar salesman, lives with his business partner, Max Nail, in the camper next to where Jackson and Burke were staying.

He described the pair as normal, blue collar and quiet. Burke was working for himself, hauling trailers with his truck, Ignoffo said, and Jackson was working night shifts.

The couple rode around on their snowmobile and had two dogs, he said. 

“We never would’ve suspected anything like that,” Ignoffo said of the alleged killing.

Ignoffo said he and his business partner were not home when police first responded; they were coming back from out-of-state traveling over the holidays when their doorbell video camera showed police pounding on their camper’s door.

When they arrived the next morning, they gave police video from the doorbell camera showing Burke standing outside the door the night before. Ignoffo said he was not sure why Burke approached the camper.

Why police suspected Burke and where he went in the days before the police chase that led to this arrest remain to be revealed.

The Concord Monitor in New Hampshire reported that Burke, dressed in black and not saying a word, dropped off two dogs at an animal care facility in Northwood, New Hampshire, about 160 miles from Skowhegan, the morning after Jackson was found dead.

Local police identified Burke and confirmed the dogs — Bear and Honey Bun — were registered to Jackson, according to the newspaper’s account.

“I feel awfully terrible about the whole thing,” Steven Jackson said. “If I could do anything different, I would’ve told her, ‘When you finally do decide to leave (Burke), just leave. Don’t have no conversation or anything like that.’ Because he was bad news.”

HOW TO GET HELP 

IF YOU or someone you know has experienced domestic violence, you can call the statewide Domestic Abuse Helpline at 1-866-834-4357 to talk to someone who can help. You can learn more online here at mcedv.org/get-help/.

IF YOU or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, you can call the statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 1-800-871-7741 to talk to someone who can help. You can learn more online here at mecasa.org.

FOR ASSISTANCE during a mental health crisis, call or text 888-568-1112. To call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call 988 or chat online at 988lifeline.org.

FOR OTHER support or referrals, call the NAMI Maine Help Line at 800-464-5767 or email [email protected].