Raytown Man Convicted Of Multiple Sex Offenses On Step-Sons:

A jury in Lawrence County has found a Raytown man guilty of multiple sex offenses involving his step-sons,

It took that jury about an hour and forty minutes to find Sam Cobb Jr., 54, guilty of ten counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree.

Lawrence County Prosecutor Robert "Bob" George says that the victims began living with their mother Sharon Atkeson and Cobb, following the death of their father in 1995. One of the boys was removed from the house in November, 1997 for physical abuse. The second victim was removed from the home in January 1998.

In a news release George says, "this defendant and the victim’s mother prayed (sic) on these victims for over a year, using the young boys as sex objects. In addition to sexual abuse, the defendant struck the boys and at one time held a rifle to one of the boys head and pulled the trigger. After hearing the gun click Cobb said to the boy.. "See I can kill you that easily if you ever tell anyone."

George says that Cobb told one of the boys, "he had killed their father and he could the boys, their mother, and grandparents and get away with it.

One of the boys was removed from the house in November, 1997 for physical abuse. The second victim was removed in January 1998. They were placed in foster care for about a year before being placed with their paternal grandparents.

The brothers kept their secret until 2005 . It was then that authorities started investigating the youngest brother for sexually abusing a cousin of his. George says, "when they asked him why he was doing it, he told them that is what he was taught to do."

Sharon Atkeson (a.) was convicted in 2006 of twelve counts of statutory sodomy and two counts of incest for the sexual and physical abuse of her sons. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

"This was a very emotional case for the two victims. I hope with this conviction there will be some closure. The jury was very attentive and did an excellent job of considering all the facts before reaching their verdicts," George said.

Ssentencing is scheduled for September 4, 2009.

Delay In Carnahan Trial; Wampler, "I Don't See This Case Being Heard Before The End Of The Year":

The trial in a twenty-four year old murder case that was supposed to be heard at the end of the month has been postponed yet again.

Defense attorney Dee Wampler says that he and Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore will meet with Judge Michael Jamison next Thursday in St. Louis and come up with another trial date for Gerald Carnahan. Wampler says, " DNA testing and taking depositions in the case are the reason for the postponement."

Dee Wampler (above)

Prosecutors say that the now 52 year-old Carnahan allegedly raped and murdered Jackie Johns on or about June 18, 1985. Johns', 20, was a part time waitress, and former homecoming queen. Her nude body was found four and a half days after her disappearance floating in Lake Springfield.



Jackie Johns (above)

Witnesses claim to have seen Carnahan sitting in his truck behind a business in Nixa where the young woman was last seen alive. Carnahan admitted that he knew Johns, having once employed her, but told cops he had an alibi for that night.

He claimed to have been at a bar with his step daughter, Sara Collins, when the murder took place--and she backed him up at the time. Carnahan, was indicted in 1986 by a grand jury on tampering with evidence charges for allegedly lying to investigators who questioned him about Johns murder. However, those charges were dismissed by a judge who said, "lying does not constitute physical evidence of a crime." Carnahan's step-daughter, Sara Collins, was also indicted by the grand jury for perjury, but was later found innocent by a judge.

Gerald Carnahan was always at the top of the list as far as suspects in Johns' homicide, but it wasn't until October of 2006, that Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper, Sgt.Daniel Nash, had "some time on his hands," and asked if he could look into cold cases.

The case he picked was the Jackie Johns case. Evidence that was collected from Jackie's vehicle, and the vaginal swab taken from the woman's body 22 years earlier had been preserved.With new advances in testing available, the trooper took the preserved evidence to the state crime lab in Jefferson City.

The trooper received a DNA profile in March from, Cody Wright, Jackie John's boyfriend at the time of her murder.....there was no match. On August 8th, 2007, Sgt. Nash presented his case to a judge and asked for a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Gerald Carnahan as there was no DNA profile either in CODIS, OR AFIS, for the man. The judge issued a warrant for a sample of Carnahan's DNA.

Within twenty four hours of the buccal swab from the cheek of Carnahan there was a match between Carnahan's DNA profile and the vaginal swab that had so prudently been cared for by officers for twenty-two years.

In the winter of 2008 and into the spring of 2009, a myriad of pre-trial motions (at least 23,) and at least 31 specific motions for discovery filed by defense attorneys, clog the Carnahan case file. Today (07-09-09) Wampler said, "we went to Louisiana last month to dispose and interview witnesses, and we have to conduct many more.....I don't see this case being heard before the end of the year."

Darrell Moore (above)

Moore, who is running for 7th Congressional District seat, says he will keep his job as prosecutor while campaigning seeking help from staff inside his office, but will continue to be lead attorney in the Gerald Carnahan murder case.

In June of 2008 the case was moved to St. Louis County on a change of venue.

Timeline----In Jackie Johns Case: Gerald Carnahan DOB 4/15/58

June 17, 1985 -- Jackie Johns' a part-time waitress at the Nixa Livestock and Sale Barn Cafe and former Nixa Homecoming queen goes missing.June 18, 1985 -- Johns' black Camaro is found on the shoulder of U.S. 160 between Nixa and Springfield. Investigators found a "large amount of blood,"as well several pieces of woman's clothing (they include: a woman blouse, blue jeans, panties and a bra that are "soaked in blood," in the back seat of the vehicle. A car jack that has blood and strands of hair on it are found in the trunk. Jackie's keys were still in the ignition.

June 22, 1985 -- After an intense 4 and a half day search by the community, Jackie Johns' nude body was found by two fishermen in Lake Springfield. She died of severe head injury to the right side of the head (blunt force trauma,) she also had severe blows to the face. An anonymous caller states that they saw Carnahan's very distinctive truck at the 7-Eleven in Nixa at/or about the same time (10:30-11:00 p.m.) as Jackie Johns on June 17th.

June 24, 1985 -- Gerald Carnahan, who was 28 at the time, is questioned by police about Jackie's murder. He admits that he knew Johns, (having employed her at one time,) but insists that at the time of Jackie's murder, he was at a bar with his stepdaughter, Sara Collins. Collins, backs his story up. Carnahan admits to owning a pickup truck matching anonymous caller's description.

June 29, 1985 -- Officers conduct an interview with a witness who reported seeing Carnahan at 7-Eleven in Nixa on June 17th.

Jan. 18, 1986 -- Officers interview a witness who said he/or she saw Carnahan's truck parked on the side of a road near the intersection of CC in Nixa . The witness said that when he/or she asked Carnahan about what was wrong with the vehicle, he denied being there. The witness said that over the years Carnahan approached him/or her several times, saying "not to tell authorities, or the grand jury that he/or she saw the truck."

1986 -- A grand jury indicts Carnahan on charges of tampering with physical evidence. The charge alleges Carnahan lied to police during interviews. A judge dismisses the case, saying "lying does not constitute physical evidence."Carnahan's step-daughter, Sara Collins, is indicted by the grand jury for perjury.1987---- Sara Collins is found innocent of perjury by a judge.

March 1993 -- Carnahan attempts to kidnap an 18-year-old woman from the side of Ingram Mill Road in Springfield. He is convicted on that charge, and sentenced to two years in prison for the crime.

July 1993 -- Police are dispatched to Gerald Carnahan's home in response to an alarm. Carnahan is drunk, and brandishes a shotgun at responding officers. During a struggle with authorities, he kicks an officer. He is later sentenced to 15 months in prison for assaulting an officer, and using a gun while drunk.

Sept. 17, 1993 -- Carnahan burglarizes and set fire to Custom Aluminum Foundry in Aurora. He later pleads guilty to the burglary, ($60,000 worth of equipment was stolen) and arson and is sentenced to four years in prison.

Sept. 29, 1993 -- A witness steps forward who says Carnahan confessed to killing Jackie Johns to him/or her, saying: "Yeah I know, I did it, but they are so incompetent, they can't prove it."Sept. 19, 1997 -- Carnahan is released from jail on the arson and burglary charges.

Fall of 2006-----A Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper "with time on his hands," asks to review cold cases and picks the Jackie Johns case. Evidence that was collected from Jackie's vehicle, and the vaginal swab taken from the woman's body 21 years ago had been preserved. With new advances in testing available, the trooper takes the evidence to the state crime lab in Jefferson City.

March 2007---The trooper, Sgt. Dan Nash, received a DNA profile from Cody Wright, Jackie John's boyfriend at the time of her murder.....there is no match.

Aug. 8, 2007 ---The trooper, Sgt. Daniel Nash, presents his case to a judge.There was no DNA profile either in CODIS, OR AFIS, for Gerald Carnahan. The judge, issues a warrant for a DNA profile on Gerald Carnahan.

Aug. 9, 2007 --- Gerald Carnahan, 49, is arrested and charged with first degree murder, and forcible rape for the killing of Jackie John's. If convicted on the murder charge, Carnahan could receive the death penalty, or life in prison. If convicted of forcible rape, he could receive 10 to 30 years on. A life sentence in the state of Missouri is 30 years.

March 2008---Judge finds there is probable cause for Carnahan to stand trial for Johns murder.

May 2008----Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore announces that he will NOT seek the death penalty in the case. Cites age and health of Johns father, Les, as a contributing factor in his decision.

October 2nd, 2008----Dee Wampler and Darrell Moore appear in a St. Louis County courtroom where judge Michael Jamison sets an evidentiary hearing for December 5th; and a tentative trial date of July 27, 2009.

December 5, 2008-----Gerald Carnahan takes the stand for the first time in the Jackie Johns murder case to request the judge set a reasonable bond with conditions so that he could be released until trial. According to defense attorney Dee Wampler, the judge stated, "this is a serious case and that even though he had been in jail for 15 months....that is exactly where he will stay."Wampler also filed a motion with the court to have Greene County prosecutor Darrell Moore disqualified from the case citing a conflict of interest. An assistant prosecutor with Moore's office had gone to work for the law firm of Wampler and Passanise, but has since returned to the prosecutors office. The judge denied that motion as well.

Winter 2008 - Spring of 2009-----A myriad of pre-trial motions (at least 23,) and at least 31 specific motions for discovery filed by defense attorneys clog the Carnahan case file.

July 9, 2009-----Defense attorney Dee Wampler says that he and Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore will meet with Judge Michael Jamison in St. Louis to come up with a new trial date. Wampler says, "we went to Louisiana last month to dispose and interview witnesses, and we have to conduct many more.....I don't see this case being heard before the end of the year."

Fringe Extremist With Ties To 2004 Arizona Bombing Held Without Bond:

A McDonald County man with ties to twin brothers, Dennis and Daniel Mahon, who are alleged to be white supremacists and have been charged in a racially motivated Arizona bombing will be held in jail without bond.

Robert Joos was arrested as part of an investigation into the 2004 mail bombing in Scottsdale, Ariz., that injured the director of a diversity office in Scottsdale. Prosecutors allege that the first call one of the Mahon brothers made before the bombing was to Joos.

ATF agents executed a search warrant on Joos' property June 24 and found bomb-making materials, according to documents filed in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

"A confidential informant and two undercover ATF agents visited Joos at his McDonald County property on three occasions in January 2008 and in January and February 2009. During those visits, the affidavit says, they observed several firearms and ammunition." The affidavit says that Joos provided undercover ATF agents with instructions, including what soap to use, to make a homemade napalm.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge James C. England ordered Robert N. Joos be held on charges of being a felon in possession of firearms. England said in his ruling that a search of Joos' property in McDonald County found more than a dozen firearms, blasting caps, gunpowder and fuses.

Federal prosecutors allege that an undercover investigation found that people involved in the white supremacist movement in the U.S. got survival training at Joos' property.

In 1994 authorities in McDonald County raided the self-proclaimed preachers compound, The Sacerdotal Order of the David Company, and were stunned at what they found. Stockpiled inside the compound were weapons, ammunition and dynamite. Joos, claimed the weapons were meant for trading. Joos was release from prison in 1997.



***Joos compound raid image courtesy of Lucky Dog Blog

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Wants Top Cop Job In Greene County:

The Republican Party has announced that Dan Patterson will officially toss his hat into the ring and announce his candidacy for Greene County Prosecutor next Thursday at 9:30 a.m. on the steps of the historic old Courthouse.

Patterson started work in the prosecutors office in April of 1996. He worked sexual assault and child abuse cases as he worked his way up to be named Chief Assistant Prosecutor in 2003.

As chief assistant, Patterson is in charge of the daily operations of the prosecutors office. He also sits first or second chair in major crime cases like murder and assault.

Patterson is a major in the Missouri Army National Guard, and recently returned from serving a nine-month stint in Kosovo. He is married to Jill Geary Patterson, who is also an attorney in the Greene County Prosecutors office; they have two little girls. Patterson also has a son from a previous marriage.

Darrell Moore is not seeking re-election because he hopes to garner the Republican nomination for the 7th Congressional District seat that will be vacated by Roy Blunt in 20-10.

Suspects In Sheldon Murders Plead Not Guilty:

The suspected killers of Robert, 70, and Ellen Sheldon, 71, appeared before Judge Richard Copeland in Jasper County Associate Circuit Court this morning via video from the jail and were formally arraigned on murder charges for last falls slayings of the elderly couple.

Matthew D Laurin, 19, Springfield, and Darren Winans, 21, Jasper both pleaded not guilty to two counts each of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of burglary.

Authorities believe the Sheldons were stabbed multiple times when Laurin and Winans went to burglarize their home and business on N. Black Powder Lane in rural Carthage on October 11, 2008.

Their next scheduled court dates are July 22nd.

UPDATED W/Probable Cause: Two People Arrested In Sheldon Murders:

After almost nine months there has been an arrest in the murders of an elderly Carthage couple.

At a news conference held today in Jasper County it was announced that Matthew D. Laurin, 19, Springfield (& Nixa) and Darren J. Winans, 21, of Jasper, Missouri, were arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder for their alleged involvement in last falls murders of Robert and Ellen Sheldon.

Authorities say that Winans and Zachary S. Townsend had been to the Old Cabin Shop, a gun and archery store that the Sheldon's owned, in September of 2008 and that a gun was stolen from the shop during their visit.

Charges of stealing a firearm were filed against Townsend, 24, of Joplin, on October 22, 2008, and he was bound over for trial. That case is set to be heard on August 26th.

On July 1st, Winans was arrested and charged with stealing a firearm in connection to the September theft at the Old Cabin Shop.

Matthew Laurin (above)


Sheriff Dunn says that Winans and Laurin may have returned to the property because the Sheldon's, "were easy targets." Jasper County Detective Kevin Mitchell writes in the probable cause statement filed with the charges, that burglary of the Sheldon's business and residence was the alleged motive that led to the couples murders.



From all accounts it was Laurin's first time in Carthage. Sources say that Laurin had never been in Carthage before the night of the murders. He was arrested when deputies went to seize his vehicle yesterday (07-07-09) from his house on Stewart street. They believe it was Laurin's car that witnesses saw at the Sheldon's home on Saturday October 11th. Authorities say that Laurin confessed to the Sheldon murders and named Winans as his accomplice.

In addition to the murder charges, Laurin and Winans have each been charged with two counts of armed criminal action and one count of burglary.

Jasper County authorities say they received a tip about Laurin and Winans in December on a special TIPS line that had been set for the Sheldon murder investigation. They say they followed up on the tip at the time, but really didn't get anywhere with it because one of the men, "lawyered up." It wasn't until May, when Laurin and Winans names were again left on the TIPS line, that the puzzle pieces started to fit together for investigators.

On Monday (07-06-09) Sheriff Dunn said in a news release that authorities were looking for a "person of interest" in Springfield who may have vital information regarding the Shedon murders. Today Sheriff Dunn would only say that it was a ploy and would not comment on whether or not the ploy worked in Laurin's arrest last night.

Darren Winans (above)

Winans has a pretty extensive criminal history. Online court records show he was given 120 days shock time for stealing a car in March of 2006. In March of 2008, while still on probation for the stealing conviction, Winans was arrested on a felony drug charge. Winans pleaded guilty in the drug case, and was placed was on one year of unsupervised probation. In January of 2009 Winans was charged with driving without a license (he was revoked) and having no insurance---he was supposed to appear in Greene County on those charges today. In May of this year a full order of protection was granted to Winans ex-wife and child.

Laurin, who grew up in Chrisitan County and graduated from Nixa High School, has little criminal history....just a few traffic citations.

Before Sunday October 12, 2008, the biggest thing in Carthage Missouri was the Precious Moments Chapel. What was supposed to be a typical Sunday for the Sheldon family turned into a day that family members of Robert and Ellen Sheldon will never be able to forget.

Daniel Sheldon became concerned when his parents, Robert and Ellen Sheldon, didn't show up for church services so went to check on his folks. He thought that maybe one of them had become sick after attending a church function the night before. He never expected to find his mother lying in a pool of blood in the hallway of the family home...his father dead in another part of the house. He reportedly told a 911 operator that he believed his mother had been shot.

The 9-1-1 call that should have been recorded wasn't because of a glitch with the recording system at the Jasper County Sheriff's Department that day.

What officers found when they arrived at the crime scene sent a chill up the spines of investigators who thought they had seen it all. It was a bloody crime scene, and officers at first thought that Robert and Ellen Sheldon had been shot, the family dog was killed too. Soon the small town rumor mill was in full force, some people said that there were notes scrawled on the walls with the victims blood. Sheriff Archie Dunn said, "whoever did it.... hated those people." We learned today that the Sheldon's had been stabbed multiple times.

The Tri-State Major Case Squad was activated to assist Jasper County authorities with their investigation.That squad included thirty five officers from agencies in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. For several weeks Sheriff Dunn thought they were close to making an arrest in the case. Dunn became frustrated when evidence sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab took months to get back, and he became quite vocal about it. Let's just say that he didn't make many friends in Jeff City with some of the remarks he made.


Robert Charles Sheldon and Ellen Louise Ogden were married in 1957, and had two sons and two daughters. The home that they shared was at the end of a dead end lane on North Black Powder Lane. Also located on the property was, The Old Cabin Shop, that the Sheldon's operated for twenty eight years. Ironically, the building that now houses the Old Cabin Shop was the first courthouse in Jasper County in the 1800's.

In February an anonymous donor made a $20,000 donation to help find the Sheldon's killers. That amount grew to $40,000 recently.

Both Laurin and Winans are being held without bond in the Jasper County jail. They should be formally arraigned tomorrow.

Dunn says that the investigation is ongoing and that there could be additional arrests in the case.

BREAKING NEWS:ARREST MADE IN SHELDON MURDERS--- News Conference Scheduled This Afternoon (07-08-09):

On Monday Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn said that his office was interested in speaking with a "person of interest" in Springfield that could have vital information in the murder investigation of and elderly Carthage couple.

And today comes news that there's been an arrest made in last Octobers murders of Robert and Ellen Sheldon. There is a news conference scheduled for 2 p.m. in Carthage.

UPDATE 1:25 p.m.---There have been two arrest made in the murders one is a man from Carthage---the second is a man from Springfield. Charges are expected to be filed either this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Lab Results Back In Rufus Church Death; Still No Comment From Law Enforcers:

Results from the state crime lab are back in the investigation of an Ozarks businessman found shot to death in a service garage of a car dealership he co-owned.

Sgt. Dan Bracker says that he cannot comment on what the evidence or results are because it involves an ongoing investigation.

Rufus Church was found dead in a garage that is adjacent to the former Ozark Dodge dealership on March 23rd from a shotgun blast to the chest. Ozark police chief Lyle Hodges has released very little information regarding the investigation into Church's death only that it was being investigated as a homicide.

However, in May Christian County coroner Arthur Adams amended Church's death certificate from 'homicide' to 'pending investigation'. Adams says, "I amended the original death certificate that I signed regarding Rufus Church from homicide to pending investigation after information was brought to me by the Highway Patrol and the Ozark Police Department."

It's been over ninety days since Church was found dead and there still are no real answers on what caused Church's death from anyone that has the ability to answer the questions.

***Ozark Dodge image Chrisitian County Headliner

BREAKING NEWS (07-07-09): Judge Throws Out First-Degree Murder Conviction Against Thomas Naumann:

In a surprising move the judge who presided over the murder trial of Thomas Naumann threw out the jury's May 1, 2009, first-degree murder conviction of the Nixa man.

Judge John Moody ruled on a post conviction motion filed by defense attorney Dean Price, "the verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, entered by the jury in this cause is hereby set aside and held for naught. Further, upon motion by the Defendant and for good cause shown, the Court hereby finds Defendant guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, of murder in the second degree."

Judge Moody was brought in from Wright County to preside over the case after Christian County Circuit Court Judge Mark Orr recused himself from the case.

Naumann was found guilty of helping Crystal Broyles inject former Macon County prosecutor David Masters with a lethal dose of cocaine back in 2005 ater a fight over rent money and unwanted sexual advances towards Broyles.

Jurors had the option of finding Naumann guilty of the lesser included offense of second-degree murder at the trial, but returned with the first-degree conviction after a little more than two hours of deliberations.

In video testimony presented during the week long trial, Nauman told Missouri State Highway Patrol investigator Sgt. Dan Nash that it was Broyles who administered the doses of cocaine while he was in the living room of the house. He told Nash, "she kept coming back in the room saying he won't die, he won't die....so I told her to give him more." Dr. Keith Norton testified at Naumann's trial that Masters had forty times the lethal limit of cocaine in his bloodstream when he died.

Broyles, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on the second day of her 2006 murder trial and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Chrisitan County Prosecutor Ron Cleek (a.) says, "we had a jury who worked hard to make a very difficult decision, and with the stroke of a pen, the Judge rendered it useless." Cleek adds, "I respect Judge Moody, but I think he made the wrong decision."

Price (b.), who drafted the motion with help of his co-counsel Tim Cisar says, "the prosecutor and the jury got it wrong....the judge got it right, and I'm thankful."





The only sentence that Naumann (who was originally scheduled to be sentenced yesterday) could have received on the first-degree murder conviction was life without the possibility of parole. Now the judge has the option of sentencing Naumann from10 to 30 years in prison. Some court watchers believe that Judge Moody will sentence Naumann to an identical 13 year sentence like his accomplice, Crystal Broyles.

Nauman is scheduled to be sentenced on August 3rd in Christian County.




https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
05N8-CR00476-02 - ST VS THOMAS NAUMANN

Does Someone In Springfield Hold The Answers To The Sheldon Murders?:

Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn says that investigators from his department are "looking at a person of interest" from Springfield in connection to the "horrific" murders of an elderly Carthage couple last October. The deparment developed the person/persons of interest, "from an old tip," that was received several months ago.

Daniel Sheldon became concerned about his parents, Robert and Ellen Sheldon, when they didn't show up for Sunday morning church services on October 12, 2008, at Fairview Christian Church in Carthage so he went to their house.

He wasn't prepared for what he found when he got there, his mother dead, in a pool of blood in the hallway of the family home. He reportedly told a 911 operator that he believed his mother had been shot....even the family dog was dead.

The Sheldons had attended a Sunday school party at the church the previous night, Oct. 11, 2008, and left the party between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Monday’s news release refers to the murders as having taken place on Oct. 11, which suggests that investigators believe they were killed sometime before midnight.

Sheriff Archie Dunn said, "he was misunderstood when he said that this was a hate crime, however, he says the crime scene was filled with hate, whoever did it.... hated those people."

The sheriff also indicated that the announcement has “more than one purpose.” But he would not elaborate on what the other purpose was. Dunn would not discuss what led them to Springfield or where the they got the lead they are following.

There is a $40,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person/or persons responsible for the Sheldon' murders. If you have any information that can help authorities call the Jasper County Sheriff's Department at 417-358-8177 or the TIPS line at 417-781-8477.

Fourth Of July Arson Sparked By Roman Candle Claims Life Of Schell City Mayor:

The mayor of a small Vernon County town died of a heart attack while battling a blaze that was sparked by a roman candle on the 4th of July.

Dale Haddix, 70, who was also the Assistant Volunteer Fire Chief in Schell City, was helping extinguish the blaze at an abandoned house on Second Street that jumped to a nearby storage building owned by the Schell City United Methodist Church, when he died.

Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn Ewing has charged eighteen year-old Charles Stewart with two counts of second-degree arson resulting in injury or death. The probable cause statement says that the charges are from two seperate structure fires....one for allegedly starting the weekend fire that claimed Haddix's life--the other arson charge is in connection to an structure fire at Maple and Third in Schell City on June 20th.

The State Fire Marshals office is assisting the Vernon County Sheriff's Office with the investigation according to Sheriff Ron Peckman.

Funeral services are pending for Haddix.




09VE-CR00536 - ST V CHARLES E STEWART

Former Secretary In Greene County Prosecutors Office Charged With Felony Stealing:

A former secretary in the traffic division at the Greene County prosecutors office was charged with felony stealing today (07-06-09) in Greene County.

The charges do no stem from any improprieties of Barbara Birdsong's employment at the prosecutors office, instead they come from a law firm she worked for prior to her employment at the Greene County Judicial Center.

The probable cause statement filed with the charges says that Birdsong was responsible for handling payments for the law firm of Groce and DeArmon, P.C. and accepted cash payments as part of her job. It is alleged that if a client paid in cash, Birdsong would pocket the money before it was deposited.

The alleged theft was uncovered by Attorney Shari DeArmon, who confronted Birdsong in June 2007. The PC states, “DeArmon stated that Birdsong admitted to her that she had stolen the $750 and had been stealing from the business in the past,”

Springfield police first learned of the alleged theft in 2007, but only approached Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore about the accusations recently.

Birdsong was employed by the prosecutors office as a temporary employee in 2007, and when a permanent position opened up they offered the thirty eight year-old Birdsong the job.

Moore said his office will recuse itself from the case, and that will ask that a prosecutor from a neighboring county represent the state in the case.



https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
0931-CR04143 - ST V BARBARA J BIRDSONG

Springfield Man Charged In 4th Of July Park Shooting:

A man who allegedly shot another man in Washington park Saturday evening has been charged with three felonies in connection with the crime.

Prosecutors have charged Anthony Rico Neal, 21, with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and discharging or shooting a firearm at or from a vehicle at a person.

The probable cause statement indicates that there was an ongoing feud between Neal and Tyrone Keith, 23, over Linsey Sickler, who is the mother of Keith's children and the current girlfriend of Neal, as well as an assault of Neal's brother, Antwone, that led to several shots being fired from a van (which belongs to Sickler) in the Mid-Town park about 6 p.m., where just hours earlier residents and children had taken part in a 4th of July celebration in and around the park.

Cops say that one of those bullets hit Keith in the back of the neck near his head and that the wound is not life-threatening.

Online court records show that Neal pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and leaving the scene of an accident in October 2008, and placed on five years probation-----he was charged with driving without a license and having no insurance last September. That case has not been disposed yet.

Neal is being held in the Greene County jail on $200,000 bond and is due back in court on July 17th.

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do

0931-CR04104 - ST V ANTHONY R NEAL

After Two Years, Still No Arrests In Rolland Comstock's Murder:

It was two years ago today that Rolland Comstock's assistant, Becky Frakes, found him dead on the floor of his north Springfield mansion and there still are no answers to who may have killed the former State Representative.

Frakes became concerned when Comstock didn't answer his cell phone and she got a continual busy signal on the home phone so she headed out to his house in northern Greene County. Comstock House isn't far from McDaniel Lake, it is surrounded by dense woods and a wrought iron fence and gate that you have to put a code in to enter. Frakes punched in the numbers and drove up the long driveway to the the house.

When Frakes got out of her car she was greeted by the haunting howling sounds of Comstock's two hybrid wolves, "it's like they were grieving," Frakes said.

Frakes made her way to the back side of the stately house and through a sliding glass door. It was there that she found her friend and mentor lying in a pool of blood between the kitchen and dining room. Comstock had been shot four times...twice in the back of the head, once under the chin, and one time in the abdomen.

Comstock was a tax and probate attorney who once represented an English bulldog that was left nearly $100,000 dollars by it's owner. He was also a renowned book collector, known internationally for his collection of 50,000 books, many of them signed first editions.

Author Harry Crews jotted this note to Comstock inside the book,"The Knockout Artist"

Investigators say that theft does not appear to be the motive in the book fanatics murder as there were no books found to be missing after they searched Comstock's unique cataloguing system. There also appeared to be no signs of forced entry to the house.

The murder of Rolland Comstock is as intriguing as any of the murder mysteries that lined his vast home library, however, most of the twists and turns in this mystery so far involve members of Comstock's family.

In court documents filed eleven months after Comstock's death, search warrants revealed that detectives were interested in two family members in connection to the seventy year-old mans death.....his ex-wife and son.

Rolland and Alberta Comstock divorced in 2005 after thirty eight years of marriage and were involved in a bitter dispute over a $215,000 settlement Rolland Comstock was to pay his former wife. The court documents give us a glimpse at some of the things that cops are zeroing in on in their investigation--they asked a judge for a court order to obtain DNA samples from both Alberta and Michael Comstock.

In interviews conducted by authorities both Alberta and Michael Comstock say that it had been several years since they had been inside the mansion.



However, investigators say that DNA from a cigarette butt recovered at the crime scene belongs to, Michael "Andy" Comstock, the estranged son that Rolland adopted early in his marriage to Alberta. And that confidential legal paperwork from Alberta's attorney pertaining to her divorce from Comstock, as well as a health directive that was drawn up after the Comstock's divorce, were found inside the mansion and should not have been there.

The documents also reveal that a handgun Alberta Comstock bought the day before her ex-husbands death, as well as bullet casings recovered from the crime scene, were being analyzed. The documents allege that Alberta Comstock tested partial positive for gunshot residue the same day as Comstock's murder.

When asked in an interview several years ago if there was anymore room in his library for books, Comstock scanned the room that he was so proud of and whispered, "I wouldn't want to say without checking to see if this room is bugged; if my wife would hear me say that we're running very short on room, I think she'd murder me tonight!"



A year after her fathers murder, Faith Stocker, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her mother for her adopted fathers death. The lawsuit states, "On or about July 3, 2007, Defendant, acting alone or in conspiracy with another, shot (Rolland Comstock) four times with a .38 caliber weapon." It goes on to say, "Defendants' acts were the direct and proximate cause of the Decedent's death."

On October 2, 2008, Alberta Comstock's attorney, Tim Richardson, filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the civil lawsuit that Stocker filed that names her mother responsible for Rolland Comstock's death. In January 2009 Greene County Circuit Court Judge Michael Cordonnier ruled that the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Alberta Comstock can proceed to trial. Cordonnier said, "criminal cases get filed against innocent people all the time."

In the spring of this year Judge Cordonnier ruled that pictures that were part of the Comstock's divorce case will be preserved and made available to Alberta Comstock attorneys.

In October of 2008, then Greene County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jim Arnott, said that he was confident that detectives in his department were close to handing their files to the prosecutors office and would not comment on specific suspects in the case saying only, "we have multiple suspects for different charges involved in this case."



Eight months after that statement now Sheriff Arnott says what appears to be a cold case really isn't. "We have a full time investigator working on the case...were not ready to bring it to a closer yet, but we are still working on it."


****Comstock House was finally sold for about $400,000 in May of 2009....at a auction in June of 2008 the house didn't get a single bid.

Man Wanted For Stabbing In Hollister Turns Himself In To Ava Police:

A man wanted for stabbing his girlfriend in rural Taney County turned himself in to authorities in Douglas County last week.

Authorities in Ava say Donald Sperling, 39, walked in to the Ava police department on June 26th and told them he was wanted in Hollister for stabbing his girlfriend multiple times the night before.

Taney County prosecutor Jeff Merrell says that Sperling and his girlfriend were fight on the front lawn of the residence on Iowa Colony Road when the verbal fight allegedly became physical.

The victim refered to as T.M. in court documents, made her way back inside the house to her son's room and told him, "I'm going to die, he stabbed me."

T.M.'s son feared his mothers wounds were life threatening so he drove her to a central location to meet an ambulance. T.M. was transported to Skaggs hospital then transferred to a Springfield hospital with serious injuries.

Sperling has been charged with first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action in Taney County. He is being without bond and is due in court next Tuesday (07-07-09.)

UPDATE 07-07-09:

Sperling appeared in court today for a bond hearing which was set at half a million dollars. Merrell says he "asked for a high bond to protect the community and make sure Mr. Sperling appears in court."

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
09AF-CR01400 - ST V DONALD SHANE SPERLING

Oklahoma Jail Escapees Taken Into Custody In Branson:

UPDATE 5:45 p.m.:

Police responded to a motel in Branson at about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon and arrested 44 year-old Doyle Bertschy and 53 year-old Kenneth Sherrod, the last two men who escaped from jail in Kay County, OK, yesterday morning (07-02-09.)


PREVIOUS:

Two of four jail escapees who broke out the skylight of the Kay County, Oklahoma, jail have been apprehended in Taney County.

The duo had been on the run for about seventeen hours when a cop in Branson pulled them over for careless and imprudent driving near Wal-Mart on the 76 strip. While the officer was talking to the driver of the stolen vehicle, the passenger, Benito Jose Bustos Jr.,bolted from the car and jumped over a retaining wall of Vista Plaza. The 45 year-old man broke both of his legs in his attempt to flee from officers.

Branson police chief Carroll McCullough says the driver, Ponca Green, 29, tried to strangle himself with his t-shirt while he was in a holding cell waiting to be booked into jail. He was taken to Skaggs hospital then transferred to a hospital in Springfield. Paperwork will be forwarded to the Taney County Prosecutor for filing of charges of tampering with a motor vehicle, driving while revoked and C&I driving.


***image KY3

Highway Patrol To Assist Marionville Police In Theft Of City Funds Investigation:

The Highway Patrol has been asked to help in the investigation into missing money from the city coffers in Marionville.

Marionville police chief Ron Hutcheson says that the amount of the alleged theft puts it in the felony category."It was officially brought to my attention on Monday (06-29-09,) --- I anticipate that this is going to be a long, protracted investigation, where forensic accounting will have to be used. It's beyond our skill set, so we asked the Highway Patrol to help us out," Hutcheson said.

An emergency board meeting was held Monday night and the city clerk, Claudia White, who had been with the city for sixteen years was fired, according to Hutcheson.

Investigators with the Highway Patrol are expected to arrive in Marionville on Monday to assist the chief and his four full-time officers with the investigation.

Man With History Of Mental Illness Will Stand Trial For Mother's Murder; Prosecutor May Seek Death Penalty:

A Springfield man accused of allegedly murdering his mother last month will stand trial for first-degree murder for her death. Associate Circuit Court Judge Jason Brown determined that the state has enough evidence to proceed to trial today (07-01-09.).

A landlord discovered Judith Roth's body on June 2nd after leaving a note on the door for Skyler Russo that he never responded to. When Springfield police officers Christina Farrand and Dewayne Davis entered the S. Nettleton duplex that the mother and son shared they found Roth's body lying face up, her face covered with a towel.....arms outstreatched like a cross with the word "DEATH" scrawled on the underside of her right forearm. Roth's body was surrounded by candles, cups of liquid and a bible on each side of her body.

In the probable cause statement filed with the second-degree murder charges, Detective Kevin Shipley says Russo admitted that he and his mother had an argument that turned violent on Saturday May 30, 2009. Shipley writes in the statement, "he (Russo) pushed Roth to the ground and then began choking and striking her in the facial area."

Shipley says, "Skyler Russo admitted he struck Roth 20-30 times in the throat with his fist until she was unconscious. Skyler Russo also admitted that he stuffed a t-shirt into Roth's mouth during the assault." An autopsy report indicates that it was the shirt that obstructed Roth's breathing and caused her death.

Neighbors and friends say that they believe that Russo suffers from mental illness , "Russo would duct tape stick crosses on vehicles with notes that say, "Do you know Jesus?" and pass out figurines of mother Mary", according to the PC statement. Investigators also found a multitude of handmade religious symbols both inside and outside of the residence.

Court documents indicate that Roth called police at least two times this year after she was attacked by her son, and that she had attempted to have him temporarily committed in the week prior to her death.

Russo was originally charged with second-degree murder, however, Greene County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dan Patterson (a.) amended the charge to first-degree murder due to statements made by Russo following his arrest that indicate the planned his mother's murder.

Patterson has not determined if he will seek the death penalty against Russo, but if he is convicted of first-degree murder, the only sentence available is life without the possibility of parole.

Russo continues to be held in the Greene County jail without bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in Circuit Court on July 10th.

Douglas County Man Who Allegedly Slashed Wife And Son To Death With Sword Found Incompetent:

The Douglas County man accused of allegeldy killing his wife and infant son with a double edged sword last March has been declared incompetent to stand trial.

Douglas County prosecutor Chris Wade says, "I received documentation this week pertaining to Dan Andrews competency...and at this time he has been found unfit to stand trial."

Andrews is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action in the deaths of his wife and son.

A family friend who had been living with Andrews and his wife, Mary Lee Burchell, and their 9-month-old son Taylor called police in the early morning hours of March 16, 2009, to tell them that when he got home he found Andrews standing in the driveway with blood on his hands.

When authorities arrived at the couples home they discovered Burchell, who was pregnant, lying on the couples bed with extensive injuries to the left side of her face. According to court documents she also had multiple stab wounds on her body, according to a (note the pc is graphic) probable cause statement filed with the case.

If that scene wasn't horrifying enough, deputies then spotted a crib in the bedroom.....and when they pulled back a blood-soaked baby blanket they found little Taylor lying in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds to his tiny body.

According to family members Dan Andrews has suffered from mental health problems since he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash several years ago. They say they had attempted to have him hospitalized on multiple occasions for mental health issues prior to his allegedly killing his family. They say hospitals would keep him for a few days, then release him.

In the six weeks leading up to the killings there were two hot line calls made to the Department of Social Services regarding Burchell and the Andrews' son. In each instance a caseworker found no cause to open a case file on the family.

Andrews family says that they became so concerned that he might harm his family that they took him to a West Plains hospital a month before the killings.....only to have him released again without any long term mental health intervention.

Wade says, "Andrews will stay at the hospital in Fulton and the court will keep reviewing his progress."

Sentencing Delayed In Former Macon County Prosecutors Murder:

Sentencing has been delayed in the case of Christian County man who was found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this year in the death of former Macon County prosecutor David Masters.

A jury found Thomas Naumann guilty in May of for his role in Masters 2005 cocaine overdose death, and he was scheduled to be sentenced on July 6th. However, Judge John Moody is looking at several motions filed by both Prosecutor Ron Cleek, and defense attorney Dean Price and has not rescheduled a sentencing date.

In 2006 during the second day of her first-degree murder trial Crystal Broyles accepted a plea offer of second-degree murder in exchange for a guilty verdict for her part in Masters death; she is serving 13 years in prison at Chillicothe Correctional Center for her part in Masters murder.

Two other people were charged initially for taking part in Masters death. Both Brandi Storment (who is Crystal Broyles' sister,) and Christopher Hill were offered plea deals in exchange for their testimony in the case.

Witness Who Listened To Cole Camp Murder 9-1-1 Call Says, "It Was Robbie":

Investigative reports into The Cole Camp Murders obtained by a Springfield television station indicate that someone who listened to the enhanced 9-1-1 recording made to the Cole Camp police department, "removed the earphones and said....it was Robbie."

Documents obtained by KSPR News under Missouri's Sunshine Law show someone called 911 at 10:16 p.m. on June 7, 2009.....the same night that investigators believe Donnie, Sharon and Taron Luetjen were murdered. The Leutjens were found bound and shot to death in their home on June 9, 2009.

The probable cause statement indicates that the last person to see Sharon and Taron Luetjen alive was a woman who had dropped her vehicle off late Sunday evening to be serviced by Donnie Luetjen.

It also indicates that at least part of the actual crime in progress was captured on tape when someone called 9-1-1 from a cell phone inside the Leutjens home on Sunday june 7th. When the 9-1-1 operator called back the phone went straight to voicemail.

The redacted records say:

"The telephone recording system at the Central Dispatch trapped the incoming telephone number prior to the call being terminated ... during the course of the investigation and examination ... it was determined that one of the male voices was directing Sharon Luetjen to sit down, put her arms behind her and at least two threats to shoot her and the other two victims."

Ten days after the murders, police interviewed an unidentified person, who listened to the audio recording of the 9-1-1 call.

"After hearing the recording the unidentified person was asked by Sheriff Fajen if (person) recognized the male voices. The (person) shook their head in an affirmative manner. Each time (the person) listed to the recording, (the person's) lower lip began quivering and (the person's) breathing rate increased," according to the police records. "(The person) was then instructed to listen to the recording at a lower speed. When (the person) listened to the recording ... (the person) removed the earphones and said ... it was Robbie."

"Robbie" is allegedly Robert Blurton, the nephew of Donnie and Sharon Luetjen, who has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his relatives.

The probable cause statement says, "Blurton told investigators he had not physically seen Donnie or Sharon since the night before he went to prison in 2003," according to the records.

Investigators state in the probable cause statement that Robert Blurton lived with the Luetjens at 802 Elm Street before he went to prison in 2003. "Based on his living with the Luetjens, he would have knowledge of their habits and mannerisms. He would have knowledge of the Luetjens possessions and monies Donnie and Sharon might have stored or concealed inside the residence and shop."

Investigators believe that Blurton knew where, "weapons, firearms and artifacts were kept in the house."

Although authorities believe that robbery appears to have been the motive in the Luetjens deaths, it appears that Donnie Luetjens valuable Native American artifacts and Civil War memorabilia were still in the home....money and weapons appear to be the only things missing, according to the report.

During the course of the investigation cops interviewed Robert Blurton's brother, Marvin "Travis" Blurton. He told investigators that his brother may have owed money to inmates he associated with while in lockup. Travis Blurton told cops that he was contacted in June by an inmate who had served time with his brother who was attempting to locate "Robbie." Travis Blurton told cops that, "his brother Robbie has some pretty shady friends that would be worth checking out." He also provided investigators with two cellular telephone numbers.

Investigators interviewed Robert Blurton several times during the course of the investigation, according to the Probable Cause Statement. "During these interviews, Robert Blurton gave several different stories as to his whereabouts during the time of the homicides. On one of the interviews Robert unable to give us a verifiable account of where he was at or what he was doing at the time of the homicides."

One of Robert Blurtons alibis is that, "he spent Monday night following the Luetjen murders at the Economy Inn in Garnett, Kansas, because of a disagreement between him and (redacted name.) The argument and eventual motel stay took place the evening following the murders."


Robert Blurton has a pretty extensive criminal history that includes twelve felony convictions. A source says that Betty Blurton, Sharon Luetjens sister and the mother of Robbie Blurton, asked her sister shortly before her death several years ago to look after Robbie when he got of jail. The Luetjens helped Robbie Blurton, "get a vehicle and a place to live when he got out," according to the source.

Authorities believe that at least one other person is involved in the Luetjens murders and today (06-30-09,) the Rural Missouri Major Case Squad reconvened and are following up on tips that have come into law enforcers over the last three weeks.

Blurton, is being held in the Allen County, KS, jail on a three million dollar cash only bond and is fighting extradition to Missouri.


UPDATE (07-05-09): The Cole Camp police department did NOT send an officer out to follow up on the lost 9-1-1 call on June 7th. The department utilizes Phase One technology, that only lets dispatchers know what cell phone tower is nearest to the originating call.

Phase Two technology pinpoints calls using GPS coordinates.


****Luetjen family photo KSPR

Rural Major Case Squad Back At Work In Cole Camp Murders Investigation:

The Rural Major Case Squad investigating the June 9th murders of Sharon, Donnie and Taron Luetjen reconvened this morning (06-30-09.)

There are about fifteen investigators from at least ten different law enforcement agencies that are following up on leads and making contact with people on information that has been received by law enforcement in the case.

Last Saturday the Luetjen's nephew, Robert B. Blurton, was arrested in Kansas and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection to his relatives deaths. He is fighting extradition back to Missouri and is being held in the Anderson County jail on a three million dollar cash only bond.

Authorities are also asking the media for unedited copies of news conferences and the Luetjen's funerals.

The Rural Major Case Squad is still asking anyone that may have information pertaining to the triple homicide investigation to contact them at any of the following numbers: Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff's Department at 660-438-5252, or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters at 816-622-0800 with any information pertaining to the triple homicide.



NEWS RELEASE

June 30, 2009

EMPHASIS: Rural Major Case Squad Reconvenes Regarding Triple Homicide Investigation In Cole Camp

The Rural Major Case Squad was reconvened this morning at 9:00 a.m. After a briefing session, approximately 15 investigators from at least 10 different law enforcement agencies began following up leads and making contact with several individuals on information that has been received.

Robert Blurton is currently being held in Garnett, KS, on an arrest warrant for three counts of first degree murder. Blurton’s bond is $3 million. The Rural Major Case Squad continues to seek the public's assistance in this investigation. Please contact the Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff's Department at 660-438-5252, or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters at 816-622-0800 with any information pertaining to the triple homicide.

The Rural Major Case Squad is also seeking the media’s assistance in this investigation. The squad would like unedited copies of any footage of the news conferences and funeral associated with this case. Please send all copies of videos to the attention of Sgt. Hugh Fowler, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters, 504 S. E. Blue Parkway, Lee’s Summit, MO. 64063.

New Mexico Murder Suspect Captured In Texas County:

A man wanted for murder in New Mexico has been taken into custody in Texas County.

Sheriff Carl Watson says Andrew R. Newman, 21, was wandering around the county for about four days and going door to door in the Houston area asking for food and water. A resident told the sheriff that he came home and found Newman alone in his house with his 15-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter acting "strangely."

Watson (b.) says the man told Newman he would drive him to the next county, but instead drove him to the sheriffs office.

When authorities ran Newmans fingerprints through AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) they got a hit. Newman's fingerprints matched other fingerprint evidence that was left at the crime scene of a fatal stabbing in Albuquerque on May 2, 2009, and a burglary in Seattle. Newman allegedly told authorities that he is responsible for killing a woman and stuffing her body in a barrel in Taos, New Mexico.

Authorities believe Newman lived a kind of nomad lifestyle, wandering around the country by jumping trains. Watson says that police in Cabool and other parts of the county ran into Newman several times, and during every encounter he gave cops a different name, but had not broken the law.

Albuquerque Police Public Information Officer Nadine Hamby says that the caretaker of an invalid man, James Wellito, had become friends with Newman and told the transient that whenever he was in town he could stay with them. Hamby says that Wellito left Newman and the incapacitated man in the living room while he went to take a shower. When he returned, the man that he took care of was dead on the couch from a stab wound, and Newman was gone.

Newman, who has a criminal history in at least six states, allegedly told authorities in Texas County that he is responsible for killing a woman in Taos, New Mexico and stuffing her body in a barrel. However, authorities in Taos say they have already made an arrest in that case.

Newman is fighting extradition back to New Mexico.

Cole Camp Murder Suspect Will Fight Extradition:

Robert Blurton made his first court appearance this morning (06-29-09) for his alleged involvement in the deaths of his aunt and uncle, Donnie and Sharon Luetjen, and their daughter, Taron.

Blurton appeared in an Anderson County courtroom and said he will fight extradition to Missouri. He will continue to be held in Kansas on a fugitive complaint. What will happen next is Missouri Governor Jay Nixon will sign a governor's warrant for Blurton's extradition.....and it could take as long as ninety days for Blurton to be returned to Missouri to face murder charges. If Blurton has not been extradited to Missouri by August 13th, a judge in Kansas will review the matter.

The Luetjens were found shot to death in the Cole Camp home on June 9th--investigators believe that the family was killed sometime during the late evening hours of June 7th or on Monday June 8th.

Blurton was arrested at his Garnett, KS, home just after midnight over the weekend (06-27-09) on three counts of first-degree murder. Investigators say that a cell phone call made from inside the Luetjen home and DNA evidence recovered from the crime scene led them to Blurton.

Authorities say that they believe that at least one more person is involved in the Luetjen homicides and that they will reconvene tomorrow to compare notes.

Nephew Allegedly Killed The Luetjens:

Nearly three weeks ago a Benton County family was found shot to death in their home. It was a crime that had residents in the quiet community of Cole Camp questioning their own safety.

Was there a crazed killer or killers on the loose that residents should fear? Today investigators hope they can ease peoples minds with the arrest of Robert/Robbie Blurton, 45, for the murders of Donnie, Sharon and Donnie Luetjen.

Robbie Blurton (a.) was arrested at 12:10 a.m. in Garnett, KS, by a combined multiple effort by several law enforcement agencies. He was arrested on three counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action and is being held in Allen County, KS, pending extradition to Missouri on three million dollar cash only bond.

I received the following tip on Jue 12th:

"Don't know if you want to post this or not. But there is another rumor going around. Again this is just a rumor! Supposedly Sharon Luetjen had a nephew living w/ them. Something happened & she had him arrested. He got out of jail shortly before all this happened. Again don't even know if this is true. I'm not saying he did it. But what did he tell while in jail & to who. If indeed this even occurred."


Blurton is the the Luetjens nephew and had lived with the family for a time. He pleaded guilty to forgery in 2005 (link to record at bottom,) and was sentenced to four years in prison. If the above tip is true, is this what Sharon Luetjen turned Blurton in to the cops for, and what alliances did he make in lockup? It could be spelled out in the probable cause statement which might be available on Monday....or we may have to wait for law enforcers to make additional arrests before we glean any real information in the case.

A source tells me that Robbie Blurton was at the Luetjens funeral services.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Meyer says, "robbery appears to be the motive. We have a taped 9-1-1 call made from a cell phone inside the Leutjen home on June 7th that links Blurton to the crime as well as DNA evidence from the crime scene."

Sgt. Meyer says the investigation is ongoing and that authorities are looking at at least one additional suspect in the Luetjens murders and arrests could be imminent. Meyer says the rural major case squad will reconvene on Tuesday to compare notes and work on the case.

It was Tuesday June 9th that school officials became concerned after Taron hadn't shown up for her drivers ed class for two days.

The teenager was supposed to help a family friend with a project on Tuesday and when she didn't show up the friend went to the Luetjens Elm Street house about 11:30 a.m. and found "something suspicious" and alerted police.

It took cops a little over five hours to secure a search warrant to enter the tidy grey house....what they found inside shocked even longtime veteran cops. Three bodies bound together lying side by side....each shot one time.



Investigators believe the Luetjens were murdered sometime between the late night hours of Sunday June 8th and Monday June 9th.

A friend of Tarons says they wanted to have a slumber party on Sunday but that Sharon Luetjen objected. The girl says she and Taron texted back and forth until about 10:30 p.m. Sunday night----after that, her texts went unanswered.

Cops had kept their cards pretty close to the vest as the investigation into who killed the Luetjens continued, but we got a look inside the investigation on June 18th. Cole Camp police chief Storm Walker wrote in his weekly column in the Cole Camp Courier that authorities needed more information about a light colored Chevrolet S10 pick-up that had a camper shell that was seen in the Luetjens neighborhood, and needed to know who three or four men that were seen talking with Donnie Luetjen on Sunday June 7th were.

Walker said cops also wanted to know the identity of a man who was seen in a white hooded shirt on June 7th in Water Tower Park (which is across the street from the Luetjen home.)

This past Thursday, Walker said investigators were still waiting on forensic evidence to come back from the crime lab, but that they had received the Luetjens phone records, "which were minimally helpful."

Taron had lived with with her grandparents, who had adopted her in 2002, since she was a little girl. Her father, their son, Terry was killed in a car crash in 1993.

Taron's biological mother, Debra Kost, who lives about an hour away from Cole Camp says she didn't have the money to fight an extended custody battle with the elder Luetjens, "I hope she knew I loved her.... I always hoped when she turned eighteen she would come find me."


Sgt. Meyer urges anyone that may have information that can assist authorities in the ongoing investigation into the Luetjens murders to contact the Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department at 660-438-5252 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters, at 816-622-0800.



Forgery Charges Against Blurton:

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do

04CR695210-01 - ST V ROBERT BLAKE BLURTON





***Luetjen family image KSPR

BREAKING NEWS---ARREST MADE IN COLE CAMP MURDERS:

UPDATE 6:58 p.m.---Robert/Robbie Blanton was arrested in Kansas about 12:10 a.m. on a first-degree murder warrant (three charges) for allegedly killing his aunt and uncle, Donnie and Sharon Luetjen and his cousin, Taron Luetjen. He is being held in Allen County, KS, pending extradition to Missouri on three million dollars bond.

PREVIOUS: An arrest was made early this morning (sources say it was an out of state warrant) in the murders of Donnie, Sharon and Taron Luetjen.

News conference is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Water Tower Park which is across the street from the Luetjens home.



The Luetjens were found shot to death in their Elm Street home on June 9th. Authorities have been very tight lipped about their investigation releasing minimal details about the case. Investigators believe the family were killed late Sunday June 7 or on Monday June 8th.

On June 18th Cole Camp police chief Storm Walkers weekly column in the Cole Camp Courier he said police needed more information about a white Chevrolet S10 pick-up and three or four men that were seen talking with Donnie Luetjen on Sunday June 7th.

This past Thursday, Walker said investigators were still waiting on forensic evidence to come back from the crime lab, but that they had received the Luetjens phone records, "which were minimally helpful."


NEWS RELEASE

June 27, 2009

A news conference is scheduled for June 27, 2009, at 6:30 p.m., at the Water Tower Park in Cole Camp, Missouri. The news conference will be in reference to an arrest being made in the triple homicide of Donnie, Sharon, and Taron Luetjen.

Douglas County Man Found Guilty Of Killing Ex-Wife's Boyfriend:

A Douglas County man has been convicted of killing his ex-wife's boyfriend.

James Hitchcock, 42, Ava was on trial this week for the first-degree murder of Wendell Hillhouse, 42, Branson last August. However, after deliberating four and a half hours today (06-26-09) the jury convicted Hitchcock of second-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Authorities say Hillhouse was helping his girlfriend move some vehicles owned by her ex-husband, Hitchcock, when they drove upon Hitchcock who pretended to have car trouble to trick them into stopping.

When the couple stopped the woman says Hitchcock swung open his car door and shot Hillhouse twice before he dragged him into the woods near Assumption Abbey Monastery where he beat him in the head with a baseball bat to make sure he was dead.

Hitchcock is scheduled to be sentenced on September 8th.

Joplin School Shooter Pleads Guilty:

A Joplin teenager has pleaded guilty to firing an assault rifle in his middle school and threatening his principal.

Thomas White , who is now sixteen, was thirteen years-old and in the seventh grade at Memorial Middle School in October 2006 when he took an assault rifle to school and fired it into the ceiling. He then turned the gun on Principal Steve Gilbreth and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed.

White, who was to be tried as an adult, entered the guilty plea today (06-26-09) to two counts of first-degree assault and one count of armed criminal action.

Earlier this year, a state psychiatrist found White mentally incompetent to assist in his defense, however in May a judge ordered a second evaluation.

Fringe Extremist---Timothy Thomas Combs' Spritual Advisor In Federal Custody;

A McDonald County man with a storied past has been arrested on Federal weapons charges.

Pastor Robert Neil Joos was arrested at his rural McDonald County farm according to a news release from Matt Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

"According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, today’s arrest arose from a federal investigation into a Feb. 26, 2004, bombing incident that injured the Director of Diversity & Dialogue for the city of Scottsdale, Ariz. The injured city official is a black male. The undercover investigation focused on several persons involved in white supremacist movements throughout the United States. In the course of the investigation, the affidavit says, undercover agents were told about a retreat location in Missouri that members of the movement utilized. Joos was identified as the owner of the property."

"A confidential informant and two undercover ATF agents visited Joos at his McDonald County property on three occasions in January 2008 and in January and February 2009. During those visits, the affidavit says, they observed several firearms and ammunition," according to the release.

This isn't Joos' first rodeo with authorities involving a hate crime. In 1994 authorities in McDonald County raided the Sacerdotal Order of the David Company and were stunned at what they found. Stockpiled inside the compoud were weapons, ammunition and dynamite. Joos, claimed the weapons were meant for trading.

Unfortunately for Joos, authorities didn't see it his way. Authorities say the religious leader forged an illegal court document and served it to a Missouri State Trooper. When authorities went to his McDonald County compound to arrest him, cops say he put up a fight and had to be maced. Joos was released from jail in April of 1997, but one member of his militant group vowed revenge---that man was Timothy Coombs.
Investigators say that on the evening of September 16, 1994, Timothy Coombs allegedly went to the home of the man who busted his friend and religious leader to seek revenge....that man was Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Bobbie Harper.

Harper, who was recovering from liver transplant surgery, was making a bowl of ice cream when he was shot sniper-style through the kitchen window of his McDonald County home by Coombs. The bullet ripped through his stomach and newly transplanted liver.

Although Trooper Harper didn't immediately die as a result of the gunshot wound, it was a contributing factor in his 1996 death following heart surgery.

Coombs is still on the run from the law to this day and there is a $100,000 reward for his capture. Recently he was named as the Ace of Spades in a deck of playing cards that the Missouri Highway Patrol began distributing to prison inmates last March that feature cold cases and wanted fugitives in Missouri.


COMPLETE NEWS RELEASE:


Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a McDonald County, Mo., man was charged in federal court today with illegally possessing firearms following a search of his 200-acre property in southern Missouri.

Robert Neil Joos, 56, of McDonald County, was charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, June 24, 2009, with being a felon in possession of firearms. Joos, who was arrested this morning, remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Monday, June 29, 2009.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, today’s arrest arose from a federal investigation into a Feb. 26, 2004, bombing incident that injured the Director of Diversity & Dialogue for the city of Scottsdale, Ariz. The injured city official is a black male. The undercover investigation focused on several persons involved in white supremacist movements throughout the United States. In the course of the investigation, the affidavit says, undercover agents were told about a retreat location in Missouri that members of the movement utilized. Joos was identifi! ed as the owner of the property.

A confidential informant and two undercover ATF agents visited Joos at his McDonald County property on three occasions in January 2008 and in January and February 2009. During those visits, the affidavit says, they observed several firearms and ammunition. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition.

Joos has a 1997 felony conviction for unlawful use of a weapon and a 2004 felony conviction for operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.

Whitworth cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

Investigators Still Waiting On Forensic Evidence In Cole Camp Murders; Have Received Phone Records

Authorities investigating the triple murders of a Cole Camp family are still waiting on forensic evidence to come back from the state crime lab.

Donnie, Sharon and Taron Luetjen were found shot to death inside their Elm Street home on June 9th. Investigators believe that they were killed on June 7th or 8th.

Cole Camp police chief Storm Walker released new deatils in the Luetjen murders last week. He says that they had hoped to have that evidence back by June 19th, but as of yesterday morning they were still waiting on it.



Walker says in his weekly column in the Cole Camp Courier, "unlike the CSI shows on television it takes more than and hour to accomplish these tasks and we are working diligently preparing our case and identifying the suspect(s). It is frustrating as I get impatient for results but I am confident we will solve the case."

Walker says that people who are making up stories and fabricating information to impress their friends are not helping the investigation, "we get this information reported to us and then we have to follow up on it. It uses up valuable time and often takes us in the wrong direction."

The Chief says that investigators received the Luetjens telephone records this week, "and the were minimally helpful."


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UPDATED: Felony Stealing Charge Dismissed Against Larry Covington:

State felony stealing charges filed against former Nixa Street Supervisor Larry Covington (a.) were dismissed today by Associate Circuit Court Judge John Waters.

Christian County prosecutor Ron Cleek says sheet metal, hammers, fasteners and various other items recovered from Covingtons Ash Grove property belonged to the city's public works department, Covingtons former employer, and had a combined value of over five hundred dollars.

Defense attorney Nancy Price argued that the state had inflated the prices of those items and had not itemized them individually.




Judge Waters ruled that the state had not met the burden of proof to send the case to trial that the items recovered were worth more than five hundred dollars, and he told prosecutors that they could not lump the items seized together to make a combined value of of $500.

Cleek (a.) says he will refile the case as soon as he gets an itemized list of items and their value from the Nixa Police Department.

This has no bearing on the federal charges (mail fraud, money laundering and embezzlement) against Covington, his wife Paula, and another former Nixa employee, David Griggs that allege that they stole over a million dollars from the City of Nixa.

Joplin Woman Will Stand Trial For Allegedly Raping Two Teen-Aged Brothers:

A Joplin woman will go to trial on two counts of statutory rape for allegedly having sex with two teen aged brothers in January.

Crystal L. Pequignot, 21, was bound over for trial today on one count of first-degree statutory rape and one count of second-degree statutory.

The brothers — one now 15 year old, the other now 14 — testified at Pequignot’s preliminary hearing that they met the woman at a Walgreen's either late January 10th or in the early morning hours of January 11th (one of the brothers says that he knew her from church,) and went with her to her residence in Joplin.

After arriving at Pequignot’s home, the older brother, who was then 14, says that he and Pequignot went into her bedroom and had sex.

The older brother said that at the time of the alleged sexual assault his younger brother and a teen aged girl were in another room at a time. The younger sibling, who was then 13, testified that he went into the woman's bedroom after his older brother exited and had sex with the woman.

Pequignot is scheduled to be arraigned in Circuit Court on July 10th.


https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
09AO-CR00369 - ST V CRYSTAL L PEQUIGNOT

Jasper County Teen Pleads Guilty To Stabbing Girl Because She Wouldn't Kiss Him:

A Jasper County teenager has pleaded guilty to felony assault and armed criminal action for stabbing a girl last year.

Daniel Levi Jordan, 18, Webb City, admitted to stabbing the girl in the back because she wouldn't kiss him as he walked her home from a party in May 2008.

The victim told cops that Jordan threatened to kill her, but when she promised not to tell authorities he let her go.

Jordan is scheduled to be sentenced on August 31st.



https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
08AO-CR00994-01 - ST V DANIEL L JORDAN

UPDATED: Convicted Killer "Maverick" Busted For Impersonating Cop In Stone County; Girlfriend Asks For Order Of Protection:

A man from Indian Point who was charged with capital murder in the '70's and convicted of manslaughter has been busted for impersonating a law enforcement official in Stone County.

Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill says that Mark Sager, 48, aka "Maverick", lives on a houseboat at Indian Point and alleges that the man told several law enforcers and other people in the community that he was an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Hill says that, " 'Maverick' had a retired police vehicle that he outfitted with lights, sirens and two way radio communications. He explained that although retired, he kept his car ready to assist where needed, and carried a firearm as protection from people he had dealt with in the past. He would also walk around the marina with an exposed weapon, handcuffs, pager, phone and a spare magazine on his belt."

According to Hill, " 'Maverick' would back up law enforcement officers on different occasions by arriving at the scene of a traffic stop or a call for service. As Stone County Deputies interacted with 'Maverick' more frequently, they became suspicious." When he showed up to assist officers on a traffic stop on June 13th in Indian Point they decided it was time to run a criminal background check on him.




The background check revealed that "Maverick's" real name is Mark Edward Sager. Sager was originally from the Platte County Area in Northern Kansas City. In 1977, when he was seventeen years-old, Sager was arrested on a capital murder charge for the September 2, 1977, death of 14 year-old Julie Wittmeyer.

A Boone County jury had a problem with some of the/or lack of evidence and conflicting expert testimony presented at trial and convicted Sager of manslaughter. Sager remained free on bond for a year while lawyers filed appeals on the mans behalf....a move that infuriated and divided the community.

After his appeals were heard and denied, Sager was sent to prison to serve his ten year sentence. He was released on parole after serving five years behind bars.

Sager has been charged with False Impersonation of a Law Enforcement Officer, which is a misdemeanor, and has bonded out of the Stone County jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on that charge on July 14th.

Captain Tim Gideon of the Stone County Sheriffs office says that deputies are actively working with agents from the ATF to see if the allegations against Sager warrant any federal charges. Additional charges in Stone County are expected to be filed against Sager on Friday.

An order of protection was filed against Sager (06-23-09) in Greene County today by a Greene County woman who says she is Sager's girlfriend. According to court documents, the woman filed the request when she learned of the allegations against Sager. That request was denied because the woman alleges incidents happened in Stone County therefore Greene County does not have jurisdiction in the complaint.

News Release from the Stone County Sheriff's Department:


In the early months of 2009 an individual known as "Maverick" befriended several law enforcement officials in Stone County.

"Maverick" lives on a boat at the Indian Point Marina and openly spoke about his past as a retired A.T.F. agent throughout the community.

"Maverick" had a retired police vehicle that he outfitted with lights, sirens and two way radio communications. He explained that although retired, he kept his car ready to assist where needed, and carried a firearm as protection from people he had dealt with in the past. He would also walk around the marina with an exposed weapon, handcuffs, pager, phone and a spare magazine on his belt.

"Maverick" would "back up" law enforcement officers on different occasions by arriving on scene of a traffic stop or a call for service. As Stone County Deputies interacted with "Maverick" more frequently, they became suspicious and ran a criminal background check.

"Maverick" was identified as Mark Sager from the Platte County Area in Northern Kansas City. A criminal records check revealed that Mark Sager was arrested for Capital Murder in 1977 and was convicted of Manslaughter for the murder of a 14 year old girl when he was 17 years of age.

Mark Sager, white male 48 years of age, was arrested on June 22, 2009 at the Indian Point Marina. At the time of arrest he was wearing a makeshift duty belt as described earlier. It was determined that the weapon was an Airsoft Glock Pistol.

Mark Sager has been charged with False Impersonation of a Law Enforcement Officer, a Class A Misdemeanor, and his bond has been set at $5,000 cash or surety.

The investigation continues.

Judge Orders Parole Board To Reconsider Cases Of Three Women Convicted Of Killing Spouses:

A Missouri judge has told the Probation and Parole Board to take another look at the cases of three woman charged with killing their spouses because of domestic or physical abuse.

The domestic violence law enacted two years ago was designed to aid people sentenced to life in prison (before 1991) for killing their spouse or domestic partner if they had been a victim of physical or sexual domestic violence.

Cole County Judge Richard Callahan vacated the decision to deny parole to Roberta Borden of Springfield (a.,) Vicky Williams and Ruby Jamerson.

Callahan told the board they have 90 days to reconsider the cases and explain their decision.

First Degree Murder Trial Underway In Douglas County:

A jury has been seated and testimony is underway in Douglas County in the first-degree murder trial of 42-year-old James E. Hitchcock of Ava.

Douglas County Prosecutor Chris Wade says that Hitchcock shot and beat to death his ex-wife's boyfriend, Wendell Hillhouse of Branson, on County Road 335 in August of last year.

Authorities say Hillhouse was helping the woman move some vehicles owned for her ex-husband, Hitchcock, when they drove up on Hitchcock they thought he was having car trouble because the hood to the car he was driving was up.

When the couple stopped the woman says Hitchcock allegedly shot Hillhouse twice and dragged him into the woods where he beat him in the head with a baseball bat.

The circuit clerks office in Douglas County says that testimony is expected to last until about 6:30p.m. and that testimony will resume in the morning.

Hitchcock is also facing armed criminal action charges in the case as well.

New Details Emerge In Cole Camp Triple Murder Investigation:

It's been nearly two weeks since three members of a Cole Camp family were found shot to death in their home.

Investigators have been tight lipped about what they are looking at in the deaths of Donnie, Sharon and Taron Luetjen. But last Thursday we got a peek inside the case in Cole Camp police chief Storm Walker's weekly column in the Cole Camp Courier newspaper.

• A suspicious vehicle: "There was a light colored colder Chevrolet S10 Pickup with a fitted camper shell seen in the area of the residence. We need to see if anyone else has seen this vehicle and also information on who it belongs to."

• A suspicious person: "There is a report of a man wearing a white, hooded shirt seen in Water Tower Park (which is directly across the street from the Luetjen home) on Sunday afternoon. We also need to know if anyone else has seen this person and also his identity if known."

• Suspicious men: "Sunday between 2 and 3 P.M. there were three or four males seen talking to MR. Luetjen in his front yard. We would like to know who they were and if anyone saw them at that time."

• Request for information: "We also need information on Mr. Luetjen's activities Sunday afternoon and evening for those who may have seen him or had contract during that time."

Chief Walker estimates that authorities have spent over 1500 man hours on the investigation thus far. He says "we are continually following up on leads and tips and processing a large amount of physical evidence."

Walker asks if anyone has leads or any of this information about the Luetjens murders to call his office at 660-668-2321.

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Former Greenfield High School Band Teacher Will Stand Trial On Greene County Sex Charges:

Attorney's for a former Greenfield band teacher accused of allegedly having sex with one of her students waived her preliminary hearing this morning (06-22-09) in Greene County.

Alison Peck, 23, is accused of allegedly meeting one of her sixteen year-old students at the American Inn in Springfield where they spent the night together....even though she was out on bond in Dade County and facing similar charges with the same boy.

Peck is facing charges in Lawrence, Dade and Greene counties that stem from her having sex with the same student in all of the counties she is facing charges in.

Because Peck's attorney's waived her prelim it means she is automatically bound over for trial on the Greene County sex charges.

Peck is scheduled to appear in Dade County tomorrow for her preliminary hearing on the sex charges in that county. She is due in Lawrence County court on July 6th for her preliminary hearing there.

She's being held in the Greene County Jail on $200,000 bond..

Jury Selection Begins Tomorrow For Ava Man Accused Of Killing Ex-Wifes Boyfriend:

Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow in the first-degree murder trial of a Douglas County man accused of killing his ex-wife's current beau last August.

Prosecutor Chris Wade alleges that James Hitchcock, 42, of Ava ambushed Wendell Hilhouse, 42, Branson, when he asked him and his ex-wife to help him move some cars.

Somewhere along County Road 335 Hitchcock stopped his vehicle and put the hood up. Thinking that Hitchcock was having car trouble Hillhouse and the woman stopped to help him. The woman says it was at that point that Hitchcock swung open the car door and shot Hillhouse two times before he dragged him into the woods and beat him in the head with a baseball bat near Assumption Abbey Monastery.

Hitchcock is also facing armed criminal action charges in the case as well.

Update--Is This Is The End Of Cole Camps Innocence:

Has a small Missouri town lost it's innocence following the murders of three people in Cole Camp?

In the history of the small Benton County town there had never been a single murder in Cole Camp, now law enforcers are conducting a triple homicide investigation in the town of just over 1,000 residents.

Cole Camp was a kind of Mayberry town where people used to sleep with their doors unlocked, left keys dangling from car ignitions and where children weren't afraid to answer a strangers request for directions. It's a place where God and Country are revered, and a man's word is all that's needed for a shopkeeper.

If you would have asked anyone in Cole Camp, Sedalia or any of the surrounding communities if they felt safe living there before June 9th, 2009, the overwhelming answer would have been yes.

However the stormy day of June 9, 2009, changed beliefs for young and old alike and it's a date that people will forever have etched in their memory. It's the day that Donnie, Sharon (b.) and Taron Luetjen (a.) were found shot to death in their quiet grey house on Elm Street.

Locals are clamoring for more information about who killed the Luetjens. People are asking who would want to kill two elderly people and a teenager....but the most asked question is WHY someone would want to kill two elderly people and a teenager.

Residents are questioning their own safety too. Is their a crazed killer or killers on the loose....what about the guy selling books door to door, should we trust him?


The small town rumor mill is buzzing in Cole Camp....Donnie Luetjen (a.)and his family were killed because someone wanted his Native American artifacts or his Civil War collection. The Luetjens were killed because they had just come into a good deal of money. Could Taron's biological mother have done it? What about a family member that had lived with the Leutjens before he was sent to jail?

At this point, all rumors. And it appears that rumors are going to continue to be the topic of conversation because cops are remaining very tight lipped about their investigation.

Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Clark won't comment on any potential suspect/s or say if there is anything missing from the Luetjens house, "we want to hold those things back to protect our investigation," Clark said.

The patrol's major case squad scaled back their investigation last week because officers had to report back to their respective agencies according to Clark.

"We do have a few officers assisting Benton County with their investigation and I expect that the majority of the major case squad will return next week. The most important thing for us is that the person or persons responsible for the Luetjens death be held accountable,” Clark said.

If you have any information that can assist authorities in the investigation you can contact the Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department at 660-438-5252 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters at 816-622-0800.

Carl Junction Man Says He Held Up Credit Union:

A Jasper County man is behind bars tonight for a Joplin bank robbery.

Authorities in Joplin say that Phillip L. Dodd, 36, Carl Junction, turned himself in this afternoon and allegedly told cops that he was responsible for holding up Joplin Metro Credit Union last Friday (06-12-09.)

Dodd has been charged with first-degree robbery and is being held in Newton County on $50,000 bond.

LaClede County Jailer Charged With Stealing Money Off Inmates Books:

A LaClede County jail employee has been charged with stealing.

Prosecutors say that jailer Travis Tucker, 31, Eldridge, allegedly stole $80.00 that Ryan Bethel attempted to place on an inmates commissary account on May 9, 2009.

Bethel told Tucker to give the receipt for the money to the inmate, however, the inmate never received the receipt.

When a detective questioned Tucker about the alleged theft he told him he was distracted and placed the money in his pocket. When questioned further, Tucker said that he filled out the receipt book, voided the entry and slipped the money in his pocket.

Tucker is scheduled to appear in Associate Court on July 13th.

Alleged Killer Bound Over For Trial:

A Christian County man charged with kidnapping and killing an elderly woman in 2003 was bound over for trial this morning.

Prosecutors allege that Billy Wayne Hall helped kill sixty eight year-old Freda Heyn (a.) because he was afraid that Heyn was going to turn he and his former sister-in-law, Paula Hall, in for making methamphetamine.

Christian County chief assistant prosecutor Donovan Dobbs (b.) called two witnesses for the state, Detective Terry Owen and David Epperson. The state alleges that Hall kidnapped Heyn from her Oldfield home and brought her to Eppersons residence where she was killed.

Hall, was originally charged with second-degree murder in 2006, however those charges were dropped because of evidentiary matters. Christian County Prosecutor Ron Cleek re-filed murder and kidnapping charges against Hall after evidence was presented at Paula Hall's murder trial that implicated him in Heyns death in February.

Billy Wayne Hall ran from authorities for several weeks after he was re-charged in the case. He was apprehended by the U. S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at a friends house in Taney County on March 31st.

A jury found Paula Hall (a.) guilty for her part in Heyn's death. She was sentenced to twenty years in prison last month.

Billy Hall will be arraigned in Circuit Court on July 10th.

***Dobbs image Christian County Headliner

Ozark Dentist Placed On Five Years Probation Following Alford Plea; Must Serve 15 Days Shock Time:

An Ozark dentist learned his fate yesterday for the May 2006 accident that critically injured a woman in Taney County.

Dr. Wayne Allai entered an Alford Plea in Taney County Court last April to felony assault and leaving the scene of an accident charges for hitting Cassie Trumble as she attempted to cross Highway 76 in front of the Ramada Inn.

By entering the Alford Plea, Dr. Allai does not admit guilt, but recognizes that the state has enough evidence to secure a conviction if the case were to go to trial.

Allai was placed on five years probation; he was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and serve 15 days of "shock time" in the Taney County jail that began yesterday.

Cassie Trumble also filed a personal injury lawsuit against Allai, however, that suit was dismissed in May of 2008 .

Stone County Deputy Facing Second Charge Of Sexual Battery In Georgia:

A Stone County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with a second count of attempted sexual battery.

This charge stems from a woman who says that Lucian James Nevatt, 24, Nixa, allegedly attempted to sexually assault her in the same bar where another woman says he tried to sexually assault her.

On Wednesday, a second woman came forward and told authorities that Nevatt had forced her up against the wall in a bathroom and began kissing her and touching her breasts on the same night the previous woman says she was assaulted.

Nevatt, who has been employed by Stone County since May of 2007, has been placed on unpaid leave while investigation into the incident continues. He was in Georgia for his annual training with the Army Reserves.

Nevatt entered a plea of not guilty when he was arraigned in Richmond County associate court and requested a jury trial, and posted $1,300 bond. His next scheduled court appearance in July 14th.

Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill says he has notified the Peace Officers Standards and Training program in Jefferson City. P.O.S.T. is the office that issues officer certification in Missouri. They will also investigate the alleged charges against Nevatt and could possibly revoke his commission.

Hill says that Richmond County Sheriff's deputies will transfer Nevatt to the custody of the U.S. Army, which will then return him to Missouri.

Nixa Aldermen Calling For Mayor To Resign Following DWI Charge:

Two Nixa aldermen are publicly asking the town's mayor to voluntarily resign following his arrest and charge of driving while intoxicated last Sunday.

A Nixa police officer stopped Mayor Brian Hayes (a.) on Hwy 160 just south of Short Street, and after discovering whom he had pulled over he handed the case over to Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Lee, who arrested Hayes for misdemeanor DWI and no proof of insurance.

Aldermen Michael Durbin sent out a news release (at bottom) today asking Hayes to voluntarily step down. "I talked to the mayor twice this week about this situation and on the second call I told him I was going to ask for his resignation," Durbin said.

Durbin (a.) believes that Hayes violated several city ordinances according to the news release, “two of these are, willful misconduct in office and any act inconsistent with official duty or character.”

Durbin says that there is another avenue that the board can utilize if need be....impeachment. The next scheduled board of aldermen meeting isn't scheduled until the middle of next month, and the only person who can call for a special meeting is President of the board (mayor pro tem,) Barb Stillings.

"I'm not sure what avenue we will pursue," Durbin said, "all I know is that I have received an overwhelming response to this....almost as many as in the recent theft case, and the majority of them want the mayor to step down."



Aldermen Kevin Elmer (a.) says he supports Durbin in asking for Hayes' resignation.

Hayes, who is due in court on July 21st, issued a statement yesterday that says he’s embarrassed and ashamed of the charge, and that he made a poor decision.


Press Release:

STATEMENT FROM CITY OF NIXA WARD 1 ALDERMAN, MICHAEL DURBIN, REGARDING MAYOR BRIAN HAYES’ CHARGE OF DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED:

I have spoken to Mayor Brian Hayes and given him my feelings as follows on his behavior and what he should do as a public official representing our community:

The oath of office that we take as elected officials in Nixa include the oath “I will faithfully demean myself in my office, and discharge my duties according to the ordinances of the City of Nixa.” Specifically, the ordinances of the City of Nixa state there is sufficient grounds for removal from office any elected official who violates 6 specific points. Two of these are (1) Willful misconduct in office and (2) Any act inconsistent with official duty or character. Both of which I believe the mayor is in direct violation of with his action of driving while intoxicated. While he has not been convicted of this charge and I do not know specific details of the situation anymore than anyone else paying attention to the news, I do believe he has placed himself in a position where his leadership can be and is questioned. He willfully conducted himself in a manner less than what I believe the public expects from their elected officials, and his example to others and the children of Nixa are less than what I, and I believe the community, would expect them to be.

With this being a charge and not a conviction in our court system, and his term being up as of April 2010 which will probably pass before this charge makes it through the system, I do not wish for the board to start official proceedings to remove the Mayor from office at this time. However, I have asked him to step down and do so as soon as possible so that the City, the Board of Aldermen and its residents may continue with the business and concerns of Nixa without this unnecessary distraction.

I also want to commend the Nixa Police Department for their professionalism and their showing that, no matter who you are, driving while intoxicated in Nixa, will not be tolerated. The way this matter was handled by our police, from the officer who made the stop to the chief of police, makes me proud of the officers we have serving our community.

If anyone has further suggestions, questions or concerns I am always willing to work with them. In addition to contacting me by any of the methods below I also make myself available monthly for one-on-one conversation regarding anything affecting the city of Nixa. Please join me if you are interested on July 11th, at Ziggie’s Café in Nixa from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

Another Delay In Trial Of Fort Wood Soldier Accused Of Murdering Fellow Soldiers Wife:

There's been another delay in the court marital proceedings against a soldier from Fort Leonard Wood accused of killing the wife of a fellow soldier last October.

The trial of Spc. Jermaine Johnson for the death of Myria Silva was to begin on June 29th, but has been pushed back until at least August 27th.

Johnson’s arraignment was held March 6 at Fort Leonard Wood where he was also advised of his rights with regard to the court martial. During the arraignment Johnson did not enter a plea, which, under the military justice process, preserves his right to make any and all motions available to him.

Johnson, 26, was apprehended on Oct. 14 by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Leonard Wood in connection with the death of Silva, who authorities believe was killed on October 10, 2008.

Myria Silva, 23, was the spouse of Pfc. Benjamin Silva, who is assigned to the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood and the mother of two little girls.

Charges against Spc. Jermaine Johnson include:

• Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 107 – Intent to deceive or provide false statements


• UCMJ, Article 118 – Premeditated Murder


• UCMJ, Article 125 – one specification of sodomy against Myria Silva
  
• UCMJ, Article 128 – one specification of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm against Myria Silva
  
• UCMJ, Article 134 – one specification of adultery; one specification of kidnapping; and one specification of obstructing justice
  If convicted of all charges, the maximum punishment is life in prison without parole.

Johnson, an Army reservist with the 7223 Medical Support Detachment 10 from Mobile, Ala., was serving in Fort Leonard Wood’s General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital as a health care specialist at the time of his arrest.

Nixa Mayor Formally Charged With DWI "Regrets Poor Decision":

Christian County Prosecutor Ron Cleek formally charged Nixa mayor, Brian Hayes, with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charges this afternoon.

Hayes was pulled over by a Nixa police officer about 1 a.m. on Sunday on Hwy. 160 on the south side of the city. Police chief James Bacon said officers contacted him at home and informed him they had contacted the Missouri Highway Patrol for assistance in Hayes' arrest, to avoid a conflict of interest.

Hayes was released to a sober driver after he was booked into the Christian County jail.

Hayes issued a news release at the same time that formal charges were being filed against him. In the statement he says, "I regret the embarrassment and pain this has caused to the City of Nixa as well as my family and those close to me."

"I made a very poor decision to drive and put myself in this position. Due to my own poor decision I will be judged and scrutinized, all of which I deserve, but the City of Nixa does not."

Hayes is scheduled to be arraigned in Associate Circuit Court in Christian County on July 21st.


The following is the news release:

"Early Sunday morning I was stopped by the Nixa police and ticketed by the Missouri Highway Patrol for driving while intoxicated. I am deeply sorry and regret the embarrassment and pain this has caused to the City of Nixa as well as my family and those close to me.

"I made a very poor decision to drive and put myself in this position. Due to my own poor decision I will be judged and scrutinized, all of which I deserve, but the City of Nixa does not.

"My biggest regret is the harm this will cause to the City of Nixa, a community I love and have served for almost ten years. I know that with all of the recent stories and pain that we have been through as a community, this could not have happened at a worse time.

"I want to comment the Nixa Police Department for handling a tough situation in a professional manner. They followed the proper procedure and protocol to ensure no partiality or preferential treatment was given to me or my position as mayor.

"What I regret and am sorry for the most is that this incident will shine a light on one man's poor decision and not the positive aspects of our community. At a time when we should be focused on keeping our economy alive, regaining our construction industry, promoting retail growth, and many other community issues, we will be focused on my poor decision.

"I pray that we will stay focused on the issues that matter to the citizens the most. My term as mayor will be over in April; the important issues that we need to deal with will be there much longer than that.

"My hope is that something positive will come from this. I hope that people will see what I am going through and think twice about making the decision to drive. If my mistake keeps one person from getting behind the wheel and hurting someone or themselves, then my embarrassment and pain will have been worth it."

Who Killed The Luetjens?:

A week after a family was found gunned down in their Benton County home the question on almost everyones mind in Cole Camp and neighboring communities is who killed Donnie, Sharon and Taron Luetjen?





Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Clark says, "the patrol's major case squad has scaled back their investigation because officers had to report back to their respective agencies."

Clark says that the patrol has a few officers assisting the Benton County sheriff's office and officers with the Cole Camp police department as they sift through clues hoping to break the case and make an arrest in the Cole Camp murders.

Clark wouldn't comment on whether or not an arrest was imminent in the case or whether or not law enforcers had any suspect or suspects in the triple homicide.

"I expect that the majority of the major case squad will return next week, Clark said."







****image KSPR

Preliminary Hearing Date Set For Alleged Teen Slasher:

A preliminary hearing date has been set for a Vernon County teenager accused of killing two of his friends.

Matthew Garrett Mason appeared in court today for a pre-trial conference where a judge scheduled the next step in the case, the prelim at 9 a.m. on August 12th.

The probable cause statement does not include a motive or indicate what may have led up to the fatal knife attack of 14 year-old Kylie Leyva (l.) and 18 year-old Anne "Annie" Reed last month.

A preliminary hearing is where prosecutors have to lay out the basis for their case and a judge determines whether or not the state has enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial.

Lawyers for Mason can do one of two things:

• They can waive (concede that prosecutors have enough evidence to take their client to trial)



• They can let the state lay out their evidence and let the judge decide whether the case is bound over to Circuit Court.

The state does not have to share any of their evidence with defense attorneys prior to a preliminary hearing. Some prosecutors do, some don't.

The probable cause statement in this case is very vague. Defense attorneys probably want it to stay that way as to not taint a potential jury pool so they will probably waive the preliminary hearing.

If the case is bound over for court.....defense attorney's will likely request a change of venue for the trial.



UPDATE 07-02-09: The state filed a motion to obtain DNA evidence from Mason....defense attorney had no objection to the request.

Stone County Deputy Charged With Sexual Battery In Georgia:

A Stone County Sheriff's Deputy was arrested in Augusta,Georgia today and charged with misdemeanor sexual battery.

Lucian James Nevatt, 24, Nixa, was on leave for his annual Army Reserve training when he allegedly attempted to force himself on a woman in the bathroom of a bar.

Court documents filed with the charges say that the victim says she told Nevatt that she wouldn't have sex with him in a bathroom and that he should take her home. She also told Nevatt that she liked to be handcuffed and it was illegal to have sex in a bathroom. She told the detective that Nevatt replied that it was okay (to have sex in a bathroom) because Nevatt is a police officer.

Nevatt, who has been employed by Stone County since May of 2007, has been placed on unpaid leave while investigation into the incident continues.

Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill says he has notified the Peace Officers Standards and Training program in Jefferson City. P.O.S.T. is the office that issues officer certification in Missouri. They will also investigate the alleged charges against Nevatt and could possibly revoke his commission.

Hill says that Richmond County Sheriff's deputies will transfer Nevatt to the custody of the U.S. Army, which will then return him to Missouri.

Neveda Teen Charged With Stabbing Two Friends To Death Due In Court Today:

A teenager who allegedly stabbed two friends to death in Nevada last month is due in court this morning.

Prosecutors say that Garrett Matthew Mason, 17, slashed 14 year-old Kylie Leyva (l.) and 18 year-old Anne "Annie" Reed (r.) to death after spending several hours watching television with the girls.

Mason will appear in court for a pre-trial conference, where it's also possible that a preliminary hearing date could be scheduled.

Cameras were banned for the proceedings today.

Nixa Mayor Arrested For DWI:

A city official in Nixa was arrested on June 14th for allegedly driving drunk.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol website says that Brian Hayes, 42, Nixa, was arrested for misdemeanor DWI and driving with no insurance at 1 a.m. in Christian County after he was stopped on Hwy 160 on the south side of the city.

Nixa police chief James Bacon said, "officers contacted me at my home early Sunday morning to make sure they were following department protocol....I supported their decision to contact the Highway Patrol."

Bacon said, "we don't want anyone to accuse us of doing or not doing or job based on who were dealing with.....we're going to do what's appropriate so we're not accused of any conflict of interest."

Hayes was booked into the Christian County jail. However, with no charges being officially filed yet, the jail cannot release the booking photo.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Lt. Terry Moore says that the arrest and incident report have been forwarded to Christian County Prosecutor Ron Cleeks office.

Hayes, who was elected mayor of Nixa in 2008, was released to a sober driver according to the report.




***image Christian County Headliner

Hatchet Killer Enters Alford Plea:

The man accused of using a hatchet to kill a woman two years ago surprised court watchers again this morning by entering an Alford plea.

The second-degree murder and armed criminal action trial of Aaron Michael Letterman was set to begin yesterday, but at the last minute, he decided that working as his own attorney wasn't such a good idea. Attorney Stuart Huffman, whom Letterman had fired previously, came back on board as lead counsel Friday.

By entering the Alford Plea, Letterman does not admit guilt, but recognizes that the state has enough evidence to secure a conviction if the case went to trial.

Letterman was charged two years ago with the hatchet slaying of 44 year-old Tyla Rhodelander of Lebanon.

Letterman's uncle, Michael Humphrey, said the two met Rhodelander near a cemetery on E. Chestnut Expressway and asked her if she was looking for a place to stay.

All three of them ended up in a homeless camp not far from not far from the cemetery.Authorities say that Letterman and Rhodelander had spent some time alone in a tent, and that when his uncle told him he was going to have sex with the woman and followed her into the tent Letterman "lost it."

Humphrey told investigators that he was in a tent with Rhodelander when Letterman allegedly unzipped the tent and attacked the woman with a hatchet.

Humphrey was busted a few days later and led cops to the homeless camp where Rhodelanders body was discovered...still in her tent.

According to a detective, a few days after the murder Humphrey took Letterman's mother to the homeless camp and showed her Rhodelanders body, after she told them she didn't believe that her son had killed someone.

Letterman turned himself in to authorities on May 2, 2007 but refused to talk about the case saying one day he would have a lot to say, or would write a book.

Letterman is scheduled to be sentenced on September 4th and could face up to 30 years in prison.

Nixa Man Facing Drug Charges Connected To Girlfriends Death Pleads Guilty To Amended Charges:

A Christian County man who was originally charged with distribution of a controlled substance in connection with the April death of his teenage girlfriend has pleaded guilty to amended charges.

Twenty year-old Bret Turner of Nixa pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance last Friday.

Christian County chief assistant prosecutor Donovan Dobbs said, "the drug/s that Turner gave Amanda Adkins weren't the only things that caused her death.

"We don't have the final toxicology reports back, but, when Turner was arrested he had hydrocodone on his person that he didn't have a prescription for and that's why we amended the charge," Dobbs said.

"Because Mr. Turner pleaded guilty without a plea agreement, once final toxicology reports come in we will review them and see if the evidence we receive warrants the filing of any additional charges," according to Dobbs.

Turner, who pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this year in Greene County, was sentenced to seven years in prison on the Christian County charges.

Those sentences are to run concurrently (at the same time.)

****Dobbs image Christian County Headliner

Preliminary Hearing Rescheduled For Ozark Man; Prosecutors Waiting On Results Of Mental Evaluation:

An Ozark man who was supposed to appear in a Christian County courtroom today for his preliminary hearing is still undergoing a mental evaluation.

Christian County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Donovan Dobbs said the hearing for Bobby Gene Jones was rescheduled because the court is waiting on the official report as to whether or not the twenty four year-old man is competent to stand trial.

Dobbs says that, "we got verbal indication from Jones' public defender, Peter Bender, that he has been found incompetent to stand trial."

According to the probable cause statement, Jones filled a syringe with his prescription morphine and helped inject it into his girlfriend, Kristina Lee Liles, 34, of Rogersville on June 19, 2008.

Detective Brad Cole writes in the statement that Jones doesn't recall providing Liles with his morphine and/or helping administer the drug to her because he had shot up himself that night.

At one point, Jones said that Liles told him that “the amount of morphine injected was too much; (and) that after knowing Kristina had overdosed he put her to bed at approximately 1:00 a.m., and did not attempt to get her any medical attention. Jones went on to say that when he awoke at 6:00 a.m. his girlfriend was not breathing.

Dobbs said Jones remains is still a patient at Fulton State Hospital. If he is cleared to stand trial, his preliminary hearing will be held on July 14th in Christian County.

Not long after he was charged, Jones was found incompetent to stand trial. He had started appearing in court again in April, then his lawyers asked for the second evaluation.

If Jones is convicted of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, he could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

Cops In Branson Bust Two For Alleged TV Thefts....Could They Be Related To Same Scam In Joplin?

Cops in Branson police busted a pair of suspected TV thief's over the weekend.

Charges of second-degree burglary and receiving stolen property have been filed against Randy D. McBroom II, 22, and Stephanie A. Brown, 22, both of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Branson Police Chief Carroll McCullough says that Brown and McBroom, were arrested after they allegedly stole several plasma TV's from Wal-Mart's in southwest Missouri.

McCullough said his officers were alerted to the scam Sunday afternoon when Brown, who posed as a Wal-Mart employee, and McBroom allegedly were trying to steal a TV from the Wal-Mart on Missouri 76 in Branson.

After arresting the couple, officers found a pickup truck and U-Haul trailer the pair had been using. Inside were four more TVs, three of which allegedly had been stolen from Wal-Mart stores from the Joplin area during the weekend.

Last month cops in Joplin sent out an alert to agencies in the area notifying law enforces that two women using the same ruse had stolen a 52-inch, flat-screen Samsung television worth $1,300 in Joplin and Pittsburgh, Kansas.

No word on whether the thefts might be connected.



https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
09AF-CR01317 - ST V RANDY D MCBROOM II

09AF-CR01319 - ST V STEPHANIE A BROWN

Alleged Hatchet Murderers Trial To Begin Tomorrow:

A Nixa man has decided that representing himself in a murder trial might not be such a wise move after all.

Aaron Michael Letterman had been working pro se through many motion and discovery hearings connected with his second-degree murder and armed criminal action case. However, the attorney he once fired, Stuart Huffman, will be his lead counsel after re-entering the case last Friday.

Letterman was charged two years ago with the hatchet killing of 44 year-old Tyla Rhodelander of Lebanon.

Letterman's uncle, Michael Humphrey, said the two met Rhodelander near a cemetery on E. Chestnut Expressway and asked her if she was looking for a place to stay. All three of them ended up in a homeless camp not far from not far from the cemetery.

Authorities say that Letterman and Rhodelander had spent some time alone in a tent, and that when his uncle told him he was going to have sex with the woman and followed her into her tent, "Letterman lost it."

Humphrey told investigators that he was in a tent with Rhodelander when Letterman allegedly unzipped the tent and attacked the woman with a hatchet.

Humphrey was busted a few days later and led cops to the homeless camp where Rhodelander's body was discovered...still in her tent.

According to a detective, a few days after the murder Humphrey took Letterman's mother to the homeless camp and showed her Rhodelander's body, after she told them she didn't believe that her son had killed someone.

Letterman turned himself in to authorities on May 2, 2007 but refused to talk about the case.

Domestic Violence Appears To Be Linked To Barry County Couples Deaths:

It appears that domestic violence played a role in the deaths of a Barry County couple over the weekend.

Monett Police Chief Tim Schweder says a fireman passing 805 N. Euclid noticed a hysterical woman in the front yard. The fire fighter called in the situation shortly before 10 p.m. last night (06-14-09) and when officers arrived on scene, "the house was locked, but officers could see a man's body in the living room," according to Schweder.

Cops kicked in the door and found 26 year-old Curtis Brandon Carter in the living room....a high power rifle lay not far from his body. Officers found 31 year-old Shelly Garner lying on a bed in the bedroom of the rental house.

Schweder says, "friends and family members indicated that there were frequent fights in the residence."

According to the chief there were no domestic related disturbances that his office responded to at the Euclid Street address. However, Carter had a pending court case involving unlawful use of a weapon, dating back to September 2008.

Garner was the mother of a six-year-old little girl who was not home at the time of the incident.

Daughter Of Cole Camp Murder Victims Issues Statement:

Most of us will never lose someone we love to an act of violence...but for the last week family and friends of three family members that were murdered in their Cole Camp, Missouri home, have had to endure the loss of three loved ones to senseless violence, and the glare of publicity of an act that has blindsided them at the same time.

Donnie Luetjen and Sharon Luetjen and their granddaughter/daughter, Taron, were all found shot to death in their home in the sleepy German town of just over a 1,000 residents on Tuesday.

Taron had lived with with her grandparents since she was a little girl. The elder Luetjens adopted their granddaughter in 2002. Her father, their son, Terry was killed in a car crash in 1993.

As of Friday police said they have made no arrests. They won't talk about suspects, but a detective working the case says, "we believe we are getting closer to an answer."

Funeral services for the Luetjens will be held this evening (06-14-09) at 6 p.m. in the Cole Camp R-1 Gymnasium with visitation to follow.

Graveside services will be held tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at Mt. Hulda Lutheran Cemetery, in rural Cole Camp.

Memorial contributions may be sent to:

Luetjen Music Scholarship Fund
C/O Fox Funeral Home
302 E Butterfield Trl.
Cole Camp, MO 65325

The statement said:

"At this time, we feel compelled to make a brief statement to those who genuinely have nothing but care and concern for our family and friends at this time of such a horrible loss.

We understand the media and press has a job to do and we respect that aspect. We're also greatly disappointed in the trash and negativity that has been portrayed and promoted by the media relating to this tragedy. This negativity is a majority of the reason why we have declined to respond to requests for statements and pictures in the past few days. Some agencies have been doing their homework, while others have been taking the easy way out in the name of "investigative reporting." In a few days, we may decide to get into more details, but that is still undetermined at this point. This is not the time or the place.

We also understand that the authorities have their job to do and we expect them to do that job as complete as possible in order to catch the horrible people that could have committed this brutal crime. It has taken everything in our power to try and stay out of the way so that they can conduct a complete and thorough investigation in order to obtain all the facts and evidence they may need for the case. We are relying on the fact that they will stop at nothing short of perfection. We have nothing more than the utmost respect and appreciation for all that they are doing.

What we need everyone to understand is that the family has a job to do as well. Our priority at this time is to make sure that our wonderful family is mourned and buried with as much peace and dignity as possible. They deserve nothing less.

This is a very hard and difficult time for our family and friends who loved them. We appreciate the outpouring of sympathy and support that has been shown to us. We ask that you keep us all in your thoughts and prayers during this time."

- Deborah R. Armenta and family

Funeral Services Announced For Cole Camp Murder Victims:

Funeral services for three Benton County residents found murdered in their home on Tuesday have been announced.

The service for Donnie and Sharon Luetjen and their granddaughter/daughter, Taron, will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, 2009, at the Cole Camp R-1 Gymnasium with visitation to follow.

Graveside services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, June 15, 2009 at Mt. Hulda Lutheran Cemetery, in rural Cole Camp.

Tarons friends have started a facebook page dedicated to her memory.

Memorial contributions may be sent to:

Luetjen Music Scholarship Fund
C/O Fox Funeral Home
302 E Butterfield Trl.
Cole Camp, MO 65325

Cause Of Death Released In Cole Camp Triple Homicide

Investigators are appealing to the public and reporters for help in their investigation into the triple murders of a teenager and her grandparents that were found dead Tuesday Benton County.

Donnie and Sharon Luetjen and their granddaughter/daughter Taron were each shot one time inside their Cole Camp home according to Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Meyer.

At a news conference today to discuss the latest developments in the triple homicide investigation Meyer said, "We're asking anyone who had any contact with the Luetjens from Sunday until they were found on Tuesday to call us."

Cole Camp has a little over a thousand residents and has NEVER had a murder in it's 170 year history, according to Police Chief Stormy Walker.

School officials became concerned when Taron didn't show up for drivers ed class on Monday and Tuesday. She would have graduated from the class Wednesday (06-10-09.)

The 15 year-old was supposed to help a family friend with on Tuesday. When she didn't show up, the friend went to the house about 11:30 a.m. and found "something suspicious" and alerted police.

Taron had lived with with her grandparents since she was a little girl. The elder Luetjens adopted their granddaughter in 2002. Her father, their son, Terry was killed in a car crash in 1993.

Taron's biological mother, Debra Kost, lives in Buffalo, Missouri, which is a little over an hour away from Cole Camp. She says she didn't have the money to fight for custody of her daughter.

A friend of Taron says they wanted to have a slumber party on Sunday but that Sharon Luetjen objected. The girl says she and Taron texted back and forth until about 10:30 p.m.----after that, her texts went unanswered.

Robbery has not been ruled out according to investigators because Donnie Luetjen was known nationwide as an avid collector of Native American artifacts and rare Civil War memorabilia.

Sgt. Meyer (b.)also says, "no one has been ruled out as a suspect, and that includes family members."

"We need the publics help on this, Meyer said, "anyone with information trivial or not could help us in this investigation."

Sgt. Meyer would not confirm nor deny if the Luetjens had been bound and lined up next to each other. "We don't have a motive or suspect or suspects at this time, and I don't want to release specifics.....we don't want to tip our hand, we want our suspect/s to tip it for us."

If you have any information that could help investigators solve this case you're asked to call the Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department at 660-438-5252, or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters at 816-622-0800.

Taron's friends have started a facebook page dedicated to her memory.

UPDATED: Suspicious Death Investigation Turns Into Triple Homicide Investigation In Cole Camp

NEWS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 10 a.m. TOMORROW TO DISCUSS THE CASE

The suspicious death investigation that began yesterday in Benton County, Missouri has now officially turned into a triple homicide investigation.

Several different agencies are assisting Benton County authorities and investigators with the Missouri Highway Patrol as they try to piece together what happened inside the Luetjen house on Elm Street in Cole Camp. Cole Camp has a little over 1,000 residents.

When police arrived at the crime scene on Elm Street they say "suspicious circumstances" prompted them ask the court for a search warrant for the property. That warrant was granted about 5:00 yesterday evening.

When cops entered the residence about 5:15 they discovered 15 year-old Taron Luetjen (b.), and her grandparents/parents Sharon Luetjen, 61, and Donnie Luetjen, 64, bound and lined up next to each other.....shot.

Taron had lived with her grandparents since she was a little girl, and they adopted her in 2002. Her father Terry was killed in a car crash in 1993.

Taron (b.) was an honors student who was active in theater in Cole Camp.

Investigators believe the Luetjens may have been killed on Sunday or Monday.

A family friend says that police were called when a friend of Taron' became concerned when she did not show up for her drivers ed class Monday or Tuesday.

Authorities say that a family friend that Taron was supposed to help on Tuesday called police about 11:30 a.m. yesterday (06-09-09) when she became concerned when she went to the Luetjen home and noticed "something suspicious."

Tarons biological mother, Debra Kost, 36, lives in Buffalo, Missouri, and says that she was at work at Carl's Package Store at the time the murders took place. "I was there on Sunday, Monday and yesterday," adding, "all they have to do is look at the camera's."

Kost says that know one has notified her or any of her family members about her daughters death even after repeated phone calls to law enforcers. She says she lost custody of her daughter when because she could not afford to fight them in court.

Kost, who has seven other children that that live with her that range in age from 17 to 2 says, "they (grandparent's) wouldn't let me see or talk to Taron, the last time I saw her was at Dollar General in Stover two years ago. She looked at me and smiled....I hope she knew I loved her."

Debra Kost says, "a lot of people are pointing their finger at me, and I don't know why....I just want the police to concentrate on who did this and why!"

Kost says that Donnie Luetjen has an auto body shop attached to the residence and collected Native American artifacts. "He had a picture that was made out of arrowheads in the shape of an Indian Chief's head that hung on a wall that you saw when you walked through the door; and a peace pipe that was enclosed in a glass case in the house that were very valuable," according to Kost.

The talk around town is that the grandparents had recently come into a large sum of money. Kost says she's been told that the large amount of money that the Luetjens recently acquired, "was from the sale of Indian artifacts, or the death of a relative."

Donnie Luetjen had donated several Native American artifacts to the Cole Camp museum and was well known throughout the country as a high end dealer in the artifacts and Civil War memorabilia.

The Rural Missouri Major Case Squad has been activated to assist in the homicide investigation.

If you have any information that can help investigators you're asked to call the Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department at 660-438-5252, or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters at 816-622-0800.

Tarons friends have started a facebook page dedicated to her memory.

News Release:

Officers from the Cole Camp Police Department and Benton County Sheriff’s Department, and investigators from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control have ruled the death investigation at a residence on South Elm Street in Cole Camp as a triple homicide.

On June 9, 2009, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the Cole Camp Police Department received a call from a citizen who was concerned for the welfare of the residents. At approximately 5:15 p.m., officers from the Cole Camp Police Department and Benton County Sheriff’s Department entered the residence with a search warrant and discovered three people dead.

At this time no statement will be released as to the cause of death or how long the victims had been deceased.

The victims have been identified as Donnie R. Luetjen, 64, Sharon K. Luetjen, 61, and Taron D. Luetjen, 15, all from Cole Camp, Missouri.

The Rural Missouri Major Case Squad is in the process of being activated to assist with this homicide investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cole Camp Police Department at 660-668-2321, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department at 660-438-5252, or the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop A Headquarters at 816-622-0800.

***House images KSPR, KOLR, KY3, FOXKC

HAPPENING NOW (06-09-09): Benton County Authorities Investigating "Suspicious Deaths" In Cole Camp:

Benton County authorities and investigators with the Missouri Highway Patrol are in the early stages of a suspicious death investigation in Cole Camp.

Authorities say that a friend called police about 11:30 a.m. today (06-09-09) when she became concerned that she had not seen or heard from her friend in a couple of days.

A family friend says that police were called when the girl did not show up for her drivers ed class Monday and again today.

When police arrived at the crime scene on Elm Street they say "suspicious circumstances" prompted them ask the court for a search warrant for the property.


That warrant was granted about 5:00 this evening. When cops entered the residence about 5:15 they discovered a teenager and her grandparents dead.




Sources say the dead are, 15 year-old Taron Dion Luetjen (b.), and her grandparents, Donnie and Sharon Luetjen.



Taron, was found dead near her grandparents who had custody of the teen. Sources say the grandparents had recently come into a substantial amount of money.



Authorities believe the Luetjen's may have been killed on Sunday or Monday.

Taron's father died when she was an infant, and her mother who lives in Buffalo, Missouri was at work when the killings took place according to a a relative.

Authorities are trying to piece together what happened inside the house and have not released a cause of death.





****house image KMBC

Springfield Man Charged With First-Degree Murder In Wife's 1992 Death Has Preliminary Hearing Date Set:

A preliminary hearing date has been set for July 28 for a Springfield man that prosecutor say killed his wife 17 years ago then stuffed her body in septic tank 17 years ago in Pike County.

Douglas Howery Sr. was arrested on May 7th at his Hillcrest Avenue home and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Betty Ann Howery, who was 44 when she disappeared from the couple’s rural Annada farm in February 1992. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Human bones were discovered in a septic tank during an excavation at the Annada farm on Oct. 12, 2008. Howery quit cooperating with investigators at that point. The bones were identified by DNA testing conducted by the FBI as belonging to Betty Ann Howery.

The probable cause statement written by Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. David C. Bauer says Betty Ann Howery was upset that her husband allegedly took “all the money” from their bank account on Feb. 20, 1992.

That same day, the Howery's and business partner, Melvin Kinnaird, signed papers to buy a St. Louis auto lot.

At some point that night, Kinnaird claimed he called Douglas Howery and said Betty Ann had asked him about a woman named Donna Tullock....“Kinnaird told Douglas Howery to either get rid of his girlfriend (Tullock) or get a divorce,” according to Bauer’s report.

In March of 2000, Howery filed for divorce from Betty Ann....the court granted the petition on May 30, 2000. Douglas Howery has since married Tullock and records show they have lived in Springfield for about 10 years.

According to court documents, shortly after 7 p.m. on February 20, 1992, Betty Ann Howery called her father from a telephone in the shed of the Annada farm. The father was told the couple would no longer need a $13,000 loan he had offered them.“From the time Betty Howery handed the telephone to Douglas Howery Sr. to speak to (her father) on Thursday, Feb. 20, 1992, no one besides Douglas Howery Sr. has reportedly seen or heard from Betty Ann Howery again,” Bauer wrote.

The next day, Howery called his wife's employer and told them that she needed to take a vacation day.

Bauer wrote that a .38 caliber Derringer handgun was found in the septic tank with the bones and that the gun had been sold to Betty Ann in 1982 or 1983.

Betty Ann Howery's son, Matthew Higginbotham of O'Fallon, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his stepfather on June 1st, he is seeking $50,000 in damages in the suit.

Pike County prosecutors have not indicated whether or not the will seek the death penalty in the case. The range of punishment on a first degree murder conviction if life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Douglas Howery is being held in the Pike County jail on a one million dollar cash only bond.


https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/searchCases.do
09PI-CR00154 - ST V DOUGLAS JAMES HOWERY

Divorce Petition:
31100DR1194 - DOUGLAS J HOWERY SR V BETTY A HOWERY

Wrongful Death Lawsuit:
09PI-CC00042 - MATHEW L HIGGINBOTHAM V DOUGLAS J HOWERY SR

Jared "Skip" Graven Sentenced To Life In Prison For Ricky Johnson's Murder:

One of two brothers charged with murder last November in Howell County has been sentenced to life in prison as prior and persistent offender for the death of 22 year-old Ricky Joe Johnson of Pottersville.

Twenty-three year old Jared "Skip" Graven (a.) pleaded guilty to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter, tampering with a motor vehicle and abandonment of a corpse in Texas county where the case was moved on a change of venue from.

Jared "Skip" Graven was originally charged with first-degree murder, tampering with a motor vehicle, arson and abandonment of a corpse.

Investigators found Ricky Johnson's body in the back seat of his car, in