Deputy Field Marshal For Best Buy's Geek Squad Charged With Possessing Child Porn:

Jerry Lee Thurman II (mug shot CCSO)

One of the leading Geek Squad agents in southwest Missouri has been charged in two counties with possession of child pornography.

Following an undercover investigation by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force
Jerry Lee Thurman II, 37, of Ozark was charged in Christian County with having more than 20 still images of child pornography, consisting of pre-pubescent children engaged in sexual poses and/or acts as well as posing nude, and one video containing kiddie porn on two computers in his home.

Christian County chief assistant prosecuting attorney Donovan Dobbs says Thurman is also facing charges in Barry County of promoting child pornography with the intent to distribute obscene material with children under the age of 14.

According to court records, On November 7th an undercover officer with the Cyber Crimes Task Force discovered a person believed to be in the Ozark area sharing a large amount of known and suspected child pornography."

Authorities subpoenaed the Internet Service Provider and identified the user as Jerry Thurman.

On December 6th officers obtained a search warrant and on Dec. 7 officers seized two computers from Thurman’s home containing “20 still images and one movie...that depicted most pre-pubescent children engaged in sexual poses and/or acts.”

According to the probable cause statement filed with the charges, "Thurman admitted that he had downloaded images and movies containing child pornography and he moved files from one computer to another consistent with what officers located during the search."

Authorities say further examination of Thurman's computers “will be accomplished as soon as practical.”

Thurman is currently in Christian County Jail on a $25,000 bond. He is facing 5 to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Teen Dies After Being Shot At Slumber Party In Neosho:

Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland

Tragedy unfolded at a slumber party Monday night at a home near Neosho.

Sheriff Ken Copeland says the homeowner at 13911 Sunrise Drive had gotten a new holster for Christmas and had put a .38 caliber handgun he retrieved out of a gun safe in his new Christmas gift and then laid it on top of a piano.

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Copeland says four girls (all 14 year-old) who attend a Christian school in Joplin were attending the party when two girls found the weapon shortly before 9 p.m.  "One of the girls pointed the gun at Meggon G. Reppond'  head and pulled the trigger.  She told investigators that she didn't think the gun was loaded." 

Reppond was airlifted to a Joplin hospital and then transferred by an air ambulance to a Springfield hospital where she died after being taken off life support today.

The shooting remains under investigation by sheriff’s deputies and Newton County juvenile authorities, according to Copeland. "Based on the information so far, I don't believe the prosecutor is going to file charges against the homeowner.  It's a tragic situation, everybody is devastated"

Former Speaker Of Missouri House Facing New Charge:

Rod Jetton (mug shot)

The former Speaker of the Missouri House is facing another legal obstacle, according to The Turner Report and online court records.

Rod Jetton, 43, was charged with careless and imprudent driving after being involved in an accident November 8th in Butler County.

He was scheduled to be arraigned on those charges December 20th, however that court appearance was postponed until January 6th at the request of his attorney.

Jetton is scheduled to stand trial on February 3, 2011, trial in New Madrid County on a charge of assaulting a woman during rough sex at the woman's Sikeston home.

The following is an excerpt from the probable cause statement:

[WOMAN] STATED THE NEXT THING SHE REMEMBERED, SHE WAS ON THE FLOOR IN THE LIVING ROOM AND MR. JETTON WAS TRYING TO RESTRAIN BOTH OF HER HANDS WITH WHAT APPEARED TO BE A LEATHER BELT. SHE STATED SHE WAS VERY GROGGY AND UNABLE TO SPEAK BUT WAS ABLE TO PULL HER HANDS FREE FROM THE RESTRAINT. SHE STATED AT THIS POINT, MR. JETTON BEGAN TO STRIKE HER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HER FACE WITH AN OPEN HAND. SHE STATED AFTER THE FOURTH BLOW TO THE LEFT SIDE OF HER FACE, SHE BEGAN TO SEE STARS AND BLACKED OUT. [WOMAN] STATED SHE WAS UNSURE HOW MANY TIMES MR. JETTON HAD STRUCK HER AFTER SHE HAD BLACKED OUT.

The woman told an investigator that when woke up "Mr. Jetton was behind her having intercourse in the bedroom. The woman said her memory was hazy but that Mr. Jetton stayed the night and when he woke up he gave her a kiss and said, you should have said green balloons."  Green balloons was the "safe word" the two had agreed to use when sex needed to stop.

In 2007 Jetton became a household name in southwest Missouri when he attempted to hijack the "village law" into legislation. If it had passed it would have allowed developers to avoid oversight of county governments by incorporating small subdivisions into "villages."

The chatter was that Jetton did that on behalf of late land developer Robert Plaster. Plaster had 400 acres of land near Kimberling City that he wanted turned into the Village of Table Rock. The Stone County Commission had turned Plaster's request down, and a state appeals court upheld their decision in 2006.
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Robert W. Plaster (courtesy News Leader)

On August 28, 2007, the DAY the law went into effect, Plaster's attorney filed paperwork with the Stone County Commission to create the Village of Table Rock. New "villages" would have been exempt from county jurisdiction like planning and zoning ordinances. 
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The village law was repealed in the next legislative session.
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Jetton was elected speaker of the Missouri House in 2005 and was termed out of office in 2008.

Two Men Charged With Sex Crimes Involving Children Found Not Guilty In Taney County:

Two men who were charged with sex crimes involving children have been found not guilty by juries in Taney County.

Moses Francisco Perales, 55, of Branson was facing child molestation and sodomy charges after his girlfriend's daughter told her mother that he fondled her multiple times in 2009.

Luther "Luke" David Mitchell, Jr., 40, of Hollister was charged in 2008 of sexual misconduct of a minor after a friend of his daughter said he fondled her when she stayed all night.

Attorney Joseph Allen says juries in both cases said the state did not have enough evidence for a conviction.  "This wasn't a typical result for them (prosecutors.)  We have a conservative minded jury pool in Taney County. It's refreshing to see that they were willing to listen to the evidence and just not sitting in a jury box willing to convict innocent men."

~~UPDATED-DEVELOPING~~Springfield Authorities Say 1982 Cold Case Murder Solved:



Richard Leroy Walker (Colorado DOC)


A truck driver passing through Springfield in the early 80's has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the stabbing death of a woman twenty eight years ago.

Today, Greene County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dan Patterson charged Richard Leroy Walker, 56, (who has been serving time in a Colorado Correctional facility since 2000 for sex crimes and assault) for the July 29, 1982, stabbing death of twenty two year-old Angela Baskin outside a Springfield motel.

Authorities found Baskin lying in the grass near the Villa Inn Motel at 2601 North Glenstone about 1 a.m. after someone in an upstairs apartment called cops to report screaming in the parking lot.  When police arrived, they found Walker shimming up an iron support railing and attempting to pull himself up to the second floor.

When the man noticed authorities arriving, he dropped down and began walking across the parking lot. 

According to court documents, "He said he wasn't aware of any problems at the motel complex; however, he then changed his story and stated....hurry the problem is around the corner!"

Police arrested Walker, who was a driver for Prime and staying at the motel in room #240, not far from the murder scene after he bolted from two officers after he gave them his ID.

Authorities later determined that the iron railing that Walker was attempting to climb up was directly above where Baskin was found and near Walker's room.

A friend of Walker's told detectives that Walker was wearing a sheath that held a knife and it was attached to his belt before he got kicked out of Wild Bill's Lounge.  Walker, was kicked out of the lounge that was next door to the Villa Inn Motel "because there were complaints from other patrons that he was getting too intoxicated."

A security guard at the lounge told investigators that after Walker was kicked out, he remained in the parking lot of the business for over an hour and then walked toward the motel.

When Walker was arrested, he was no longer in possession of the knife that had been attached to his waist.

At the news conference to announce the charges against Walker, Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams said there was not enough evidence to charge Walker with Baskin's death at the time of the crime.

That evidence changed for investigators on December 14th when Springfield Police Detectives Kevin Shipley and Todd King traveled to Arrowhead Correctional Facility in Colorado and Walker allegedly admitted to killing Baskin.

Angela C. Baskin

According to the probable cause statement, Walker first denied involvement in Baskin's death and said he had "very little recollection of what occurred prior to being arrested at the scene." 

The next day, on December 15th, Walker told the detectives that after he was kicked out of Wild Bill's Lounge, Baskin approached him in the parking lot and asked him if he could help her find some marijuana.  During the initial investigation in 1982, some friends of Baskin as well as patrons of the lounge told investigators that Baskin "made several inquiries for assistance in locating marijuana."

Walker told Shipley and King that he told Baskin he couldn't help her in locating any drugs and walked to the Villa Inn Motel parking lot where his truck was parked.   Walker said, "while he was bent over inside the cab of his truck repairing the electrical wires with his pocket knife, he was grabbed on the shoulder from behind, which frightened him and spun around with his knife still in his hand and began stabbing at the unknown person standing behind him."

"Walker claimed that after stabbing the subject an unknown number of times, he then realized the person was the same female that had approached him on the Wild Bill's Lounge lot looking to find some marijuana."

"Walker claimed the female victim then stumbled over to the grassy area at the corner of the building that contained his motel room where she fell to the ground, at which time he observed that she was bleeding heavily from the stomach area.

"Walker claimed that he then realized he had stabbed the female, at which time he began to panic, threw his knife into the field located behind his motel building and was walking away from the building when he was contacted by police."

Williams said the SPD have been in touch with Baskin's only living relative, her father, who is in his eighties and lives in Louisiana. She was originally from Carthage, Texas, and had moved back there after getting a divorce.  She had only been back in Springfield two weeks when she was killed.  Millsap said her son was killed in a car accident and that her ex-husband has also died.

Williams, Patterson and Lt. David Millsap refused to answer reporters questions on whether or not DNA helped them solve the case or whether or not any kind of weapon was used in the sexual assault that Walker is serving time for in Colorado.  They also would not comment on if they have recovered the weapon used to kill Baskin saying "it will come out at the preliminary hearing."

Katherine Sanguinetti, public information officer for the Colorado Department of Corrections says Walker was convicted of a sexual assault and assault for an incident in Adams County on October 3, 1999.  "He grabbed a knife and held it to her throat," she said.
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Sanguinetti says Walker had no prior felony record before the sexual assault conviction in Colorado.  He is serving ten years to life in prison for the assault there. 

There has been no preliminary hearing nor arraignment date set for Walker's murder charge here and authorities aren't sure when he will be extradited to Missouri.  "We'll put a hold on him," said Chief Williams.
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Chief Williams says in the last 40 years, there have been 268 homicides in the city-- 89% of those have been solved, leaving 29 active cold cases.

After Supreme Court Reverses Stewart's Conviction, Seaman Charged With First-Degree Murder For Dulin's Death:

Timothy Lee Seaman (SCSO)

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Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby has filed first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges against Timothy Lee Seaman, 34, of Crane for the November 2006 death of David Dulin of Hurley.

In 2008, Zackary Lee Stewart of Hurley was tried and convicted of first-degree murder for Dulin's murder in Greene County where the case was moved on a change of venue.  He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

During Stewart's trial a key piece of evidence was questioned by Dulin's family.  Selby said a bloody hat recovered at the crime scene belonged to Dulin.  Family members approached Selby and told him they had never seen their loved one in possession of the hat. 

Selby had DNA analysis expedited on the hat in the middle of Stewart's trial. When the analysis came back it was a bombshell, it connected DNA to three people other than Stewart; Dulin, Stewart's brother-in-law Tim Seaman, and another unknown person.

During closing arguments, Selby argued that the preliminary DNA information from the bloody hat reflected a DNA "hit" to Seaman made by an investigative database. He stressed that it was not a DNA "match" confirmed by comparing it with Seaman's actual DNA.

Seaman's DNA was in the CODIS database because of previous convictions of leaving the scene of an accident and property damage.  He pleaded guilty last month in Stone County to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and  his bond was revoked after Stewart's release because Selby believed he was a flight risk.

According to online court records, Seaman has also pleaded guilty to assault, trespass, possession of marijuana, operating a vehicle without a license and not paying child support.

The Missouri Supreme Court reversed Stewart's conviction earlier this year.  He was scheduled to be retried for Dulin's murder on February 14, 2011, when Selby announced on December 3rd that he was dismissing those charges saying he'd received "more information" about Dulin's death. "Based on all of the information currently available," Selby said, "I do not believe that it is appropriate to continue Zackary Stewart's current prosecution."

Stewart was released from the Greene County jail the same day into the waiting arms of family, friends and his attorney's, Stacie Bilyeu and Grant Rahmeyer.
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Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby

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A little after midnight on November 29, 2006, Dulin called 9-1-1 and told the dispatcher that two men in their 20's and 30's had broken into his home and shot him in the head with his own .22 pistol.

As Dulin lay dying in his home at 403 Tin Can Hollow, he told the 9-1-1 operator that he did not know who shot him, but stated that the assailants were from Hurley and that one of the men said he was the "Eby girl's boyfriend."

Seaman was married, but seperated, from Candy Eby-Seaman at the time of Dulins murder.

Another man, Leo Connelly of Crane, also was charged with Dulin's murder at the same time as Stewart.  The prosecutor dropped charges against Connelly about a year later.  At the time of the murder, Connelly was living with Christy Pethoud, another sister of Stewart's.
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According to the probable cause statement filed with the murder charge against Seaman, "A black semi automatic Walther that belonged to Dulin was missing from Dulin's home."

A gun found during an investigation in Springfield on February 17, 2007 was sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab for testing. Shell casings found near Dulin's body matched the gun recovered in Springfield.

On August 20, 2008, Detective Karl Wagner interviewed a man from Hurley who told him, "He had purchased a black .22 with a laser light on it from Timothy in the fall about two years earlier....after David's murder."

Wagner goes on to write, "A person who told me they were in the company of Timothy Seaman on the night of David's murder told me they were party to a conversation with Timothy that night where Timothy discussed robbing someone for money to buy dope.  Taking a gun and shooting that person was also discussed before David's murder.  Some weeks after David's murder, Timothy told the same person that Timothy disposed of a gun taken from David's home the night David was shot. "

The High Court wrote in their ruling the following:

When asked if Tim had said anything to him about a homicide, Bales, Tim's nephew, responded, “He just told me that he and [John] Mills were at the house where it happened, and that's pretty much it, that they saw it. He didn't mention any other names or anything like that.” Bales testified that Tim did not tell him anything else and he never talked to Tim about the homicide again.

Selby says the investigation into Dulin's murder is ongoing.

Seaman is jailed in Stone County on $1 Million dollars bond his prelimary hearing is scheduled for February.

NCIS Assists Stone County Authorities In Marines Arrest For Sexual Misconduct With A Minor:

Christopher Allen Downs (SCSO)

Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby has charged a United States Marine with an Internet sex crime.

Sheriff Richard Hill says an investigation into Christopher Allen Downs, 26, of Seattle, began on April 27th after the man allegedly sent nude photos of himself to an undercover deputy posing as a teenager.

Downs, was serving in the United States Marine Corps and stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina when the investigation began. He was deployed to Okinawa, and arrested as he returned from duty in Seattle on December 17th.

 

Stone County deputies worked closely with NCIS to locate Downs and have him returned back to the states to face charges.  He is being held in Washington on $15,000 bond pending extradition to Missouri

 

Nixa PD's Internet Crimes Against Children Snares Online Predator:



Robert D. Reichert (mug shot SSDOC)



An man from St. Charles has been charged with sexual misconduct with a child under 15 following an online chat with an undercover Nixa police officer.

Following a four month investigation, 28-year-old Robert D. Reichert was busted for allegedly exposing himself on a webcam to an undercover officer with the Nixa Police Departments Internet Crimes Against Children Division.

He is being held in the St. Louis County jail on a $10,000 bond pending extradition to Christian County.

Reeds Spring Man Shot Seven Times In Domestic Disturbance Remains In Critical Condition:

Jason Devron Campbell (SCSO)

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A man from Reeds Spring who was shot seven times during a domestic disturbance on December 15th remains in the intensive care unit following several surgeries.

Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill says Jason Devron Campbell, 40, was drinking and out of control at his home at 196 Jami a little after 10:45 p.m. when he chased his girlfriend to her sister's next door.

When no one inside the sister's house would open the door for Campbell, he kicked it in.  A 39 year-old man inside the residence then shot Campbell who was holding a knife. 
 

Hill says deputies have dealt with Campbell a number of times regarding burglaries, assaults and domestic violence.  "We're very familiar with Mr. Campbell, "  Hill stated.

Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby charged Campbell with third-degree domestic assault and third-degree assault on November 17th for an unrelated incident.  He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is scheduled to reappear in court for that case on January 25, 2011.

Hill says Campbell faces additional surgery, "At this point we don't know if he's gonna make it."

Taney County Authorities Searching For Theives Who Stole Drive-Thru Light Dispaly:

Authorities in Taney County are investigating the theft of a Christmas lighting display from the Branson Area Festival of Lights.

Chamber of Commerce officials say a new display called "Snowman Follies" which consists of a Snowman and  six Christmas gift boxes, were stolen from the drive-through holiday light display sometime between 11:30 p.m. Thursday and 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Director of Tourism Development for the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Kathleen Bullock says electrical wiring was ripped from the displays. A crew worked Friday to repair the damage, and the display has reopened.  The value of the display is estimated at $1,500.

The holiday light display, which remains open through January 2nd, is located off Shepherd of the Hills Expressway with the entrance near the Sight & Sound Theater.

Anyone with information about the reported theft is asked to contact the Taney County Sheriff's Office at 417-546-7250.

Kissee Mills Man Sentenced To Twenty Years For Child Molestation:

Robert David Nelson (TCSO)

A Kissee Mills man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting a child five years ago.

The trial of Robert David Nelson was moved on a change of venue from Taney County to Christian County and a jury convicted him there in October of two counts of child molestation for separate incidents involving a nine year-old girl in 2005. 

The child molestation charges were originally part of an eight-count felony case filed by Taney County prosecutor Jeff Merrell, but the court severed some of the charges because they involve multiple victims.

Nelson, who was already on Taney County’s sex offender registry at the time of the 2005 offenses, will be tried on the remaining six counts (which involve two other alleged victims in 2008) at a later date.

Former Employee Facing Arson Charges For Fire That Destroyed Stone County Business:

Richard S. Bumbery (SCSO)

Authorities in Stone County have charged a former employee of a business with arson in connection to a fire that caused over a million dollars worth of damage to the business.

Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby charged Richard S. Bumbery, 45, with first degree arson for the fire that destroyed Bolivar Insulation last Sunday (12-12-10). 
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Mark Newsom-SSCFPD

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Firefighters who were dispatched to the blaze at 5:28 a.m. were hampered by brutal winds winds and frigid temperatures as they fought the early morning fire.  At one point the fire was so intense firefighters closed part of Highway OO while they fought the blaze for nearly seven hours.

Selby says Bumbery admitted to someone that he started the fire and wanted to do even more damage to the business. 

Sheriff Richard Hill says investigator's were led to Bumbery after a tipster called the C.O.M.E.T Drug Task Force.  The tipster told authorities that Bumbery described how he sparked the blase and told them they would find a tool stolen from the business in the mans living room.

Bumbery was arrested when Stone County deputies assisted by the Highway Patrol executed a search warrant at 51 Sparrow Lane in Galena.
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He is being held in the Stone County Jail on a $200,000 cash only bond.

Driver Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter In Pedestrian Accident:



Ahmed Salman Almahuzi

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The man who was allegedly speeding December 9th on East St.Louis last week when he lost control of his vehicle and plowed into a Missouri State student walking down the street has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors say it was Ahmed Salman Almahuzi, who is also a student at Missouri State, that killed twenty four year-old William McCrear y when his sliver Nissan hit him.

Almahuzi is accused of racing down St. Louis Street to jump the railroad tracks causing the car to go airborne and hit a pair of utility poles so hard it cut one of the in half in the middle.  The scene of the accident  was across the street from Springfield Public Schools Administrative offices (that had previously been home to KSPR.)

Almahuzi, who was trapped inside the vehicle and then hospitalized for several days, is seen wearing a neck brace in his Greene County mug shot.

Almahuzi’s bond has been set at $100,000.00 with several special conditions.  They include not being able to operate a motor vehicle without a valid license, not to consume alcohol or any drug not prescribed by a physician and not to be on the premises of any establishment where alcohol is the primary item for sale.

He must also surrender his passport.

Reeds Spring Man In Critical Condition Following Domestic Disturbance:



Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill

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A man from Reeds Spring remains in critical condition today after being shot seven times last night (12-13-10).

Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill says drinking led to a domestic disturbance at 196 Jami a little after 10:45 p.m.

A woman who lived at that house was chased by her boyfriend when she ran next door to her sisters home for help.  The forty year-old man, who had been drinking and was holding a knife, kicked in the door of the neighboring house.   Once the man kicked in the front door, a 39 year-old male resident opened fire on the man.

 

The victim, who was airlifted to St. John's Hospital in Springfield, underwent several hours of surgery today according to Chief Deputy Rich Anderson.

Woman Who Tried To Sell Baby On Craigslist Now Accused Of Identity Theft:

Alice Henrietta Huff-Sims

A woman who police arrested last week in Joplin for tyring to sell a baby on Craigslist is in more trouble with the law.

Corporal Chuck Niess says Alice Henrietta Huff-Sims is facing fraud and possible identity theft charges and they need help locating 80 people that Sims may have scammed.

Sims landed on cops radar after a woman alerted them to sale of the baby online.  When undercover cops posing as a couple wanting to buy the baby met with Sims she accepted $200 "as a down payment" for the baby with an additional $200 to be paid at birth.  After she was arrested, Sims told investigators she wasn't pregnant.  Niess says they have dealt with Sims numerous times over the years, "But the baby scam was a new angle for her."

Niess says Sims and her husband, Wilks "Trashcan Billy" Sims, dumpster dive to get peoples personal information like bank account numbers, credit card information and social security numbers.
He was arrested this mornig for Trafficking in Stolen Identities and for Identity Theft.
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If your name is on the following list call the Joplin PD @ 417-623-3131 or email wdavis@joplinmo.org

Michael Earl Pinkman

Richard Perkey

Rick Peggram  Jr.

Howard L. Parish

Randy Blehm

Christopher Bricker

Tom Browning

James Buchanan

Ivron Butler

John Honeycutt

Rickey Moore

Richard K. Graham

Randy Riggs

Andrew Carpenter

Wally Holtman

Charles Hilker

Robert Truester

David Hicks

David Helton

Howard Hazley

Christopher E. Harbaugh

Ernest Grovenburg

Robert Ely

Eloy Nunez

Chuck Duncan

Kevin Drake

Dennis J. Donsey

Stephen J. Engleman

Debra Hudson

Andrew C. Burt

Mitchell Callahan

Raymond A.D. Bouray

Melinda Dodson

Raymond G. Keen

Norma Bossart

Wayne Richardson

Michael Howerton

Mitchell D. Heyen

Alisha Charlton

Wanda Rossman

George Curtis

Richard Trotter

Gregg Votaw

Brian Williams

Jason Skaggs

James W. Scrivner

Stephanie Curtis

Donny L. Cain

Ron Duncan

Harrell D. Mayfield

Melissa Randolph

Robert G. Offutt

Donald J. Young

John E. Marlar

John Young

Shawn Bouchard

Sidney L. Tweedy

Michael S. McDonald

Kristopher Kirk

Lea Bonsack

Jim J. Scott

Ronald W. Myers

Perry L. Johnson III

Ben Andreatta

James Thompson

Tommy L. Bolyard

Lehi S. Varela

Kahn W. McLeod

Stephen G. Wisener

David Dodson

James A. Williams

Lori Barton

Logan C. West

Tammy L. West

Ryan Mahler

Diana Ethridge

Linda Lipscomb (Tilley)

Victoria E. Mossman

Shelia D. Mossman

Leona E. Anger

Ashley C. Kerr

~UPDATED~Newton County Authorities Investigating Early Morning Homicide; Charges Filed:

Terry Michael Smith (mug shot NCSO)

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Authorities in Newton County are investigating an early morning homicide at 12331 Sorrel Road which is in the southwest part of the county, according to Sheriff's Detective Andy Pike.
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According to the probable cause statement, Richard and Buffy Burns had been with Terry Michael Smith, 36, Goodman, and had taken some wood to Richards' uncle.  Knowing that Smith didn't have a place to stay, the couple took him back to a home they shared with Smith's sister, Lisa, and her husband, 44 year-old Steven Todd Gunn.
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Smith told investigators that once he entered the trailer he "snapped" and started yelling down the hallway towards his sisters bedroom.  Once inside the room he told his sister "do you know how bad you are fu**ing up my life?"  

Smith says that Gunn jumped up and got in his face.  He (Smith) then  pulled a handgun from the pocket of his jeans.  As the two men struggled for the gun , "it went off," and Gun fell to the floor.  Smith says he then laid the gun on the bed.

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Buffy Burns told investigators that she, her husband (Richard) and Lisa Gunn went into the bathroom and called 9-1-1.  Buffy and Richard Burns then left the residence with Smith to take him to a hospital in Joplin to be treated for a hand injury but she made a wrong turn and ended up at Smith's fathers house in Anderson. 
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Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland

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Sheriff Ken Copeland says that after Smith was taken into custody he was  treated and released from  a hospital in Joplin for a hand injury and booked into the Newton County jail.
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Smith has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action and is jailed on a $100,000 cash only bond.
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UPDATE 11-02-12:

Smith pled guilty and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

~DEVELOPING~Joplin Woman Busted For Attempting To Sell Baby On Craigslist:

Alice Huff-Sims (mug shot Joplin PD)

A woman from Joplin is behind bars after allegedly trying to sell a baby on Craigslist.

Authorities say they received reports from a woman who alerted them to the ad on December 7th and had set up a meeting with the woman for December 8th. 
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Instead, two undercover officers posing as a couple met Alice Huff-Sims, 29, in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Joplin where a "$200 down payment for the supposed unborn child" was made.  Sims  agreed to accept $200 more at the time of the baby's birth in lieu of $100 per month she wanted until the baby's May due date. 

 After the transaction was complete, Sims was taken into custody as she attempted to leave the parking lot.

Investigators say Sims was not pregnant and had been corresponding with at least three other "potential purchasers" via text message.

According to online court records, Sims pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property in November of 2002 and was sentenced to three years in prison. She also pleaded guilty to forgery in November of 2004 and received a five year sentence on that charge. 

Sims pleaded guilty to stealing for an incident in 1998--and theft/stealing for an incident in 2004.  In both of those cases her probation was revoked.

Sims has been charged with felony stealing in this case and is being held in the Jasper County jail on $5,000 bond.

Polk County Deputy Dies In The Line Of Duty:

Polk County Sheriff's Deputy Ron Routh

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A Polk County Sheriff’s deputy getting ready to start his shift was found dead in the parking lot of the county jail last night (12-7-10.)

Sheriff Steve Bruce says another deputy noticed that Deputy Ron Routh's car was running, but it didn't appear that anyone was inside the cruiser, “When he run up to the car he found him [Routh]slumped in the seat,” Bruce said. 

Routh, 59, of Dunnegan, was retired from the Navy and had undergone quadruple bypass surgery five years ago.  Bruce says it appears the deputy died of an apparent heart attack.

Sheriff Bruce says Routh was a seventeen year veteran of his office and had worked road patrol, extraditions and at one time was the lead officer in the county jail.  "In my mind he was dressed and in the line of duty when he died."

Springfield Counselor Charged With Medicaid Fraud:

A thirty four year-old licensed professional counselor in Springfield has been charged with four felony counts of Medicaid fraud, one count of obstruction and one count of stealing by deceit. 

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and The Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office jointly filed those charges against Joshua Grant Johnmeyer today. 

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Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster

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Prosecutors say Johnmeyer submitted false claims for payment to Medicaid for counseling services he did not perform and then forwarding bogus patient records to the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit with the intention to defraud the state.

Johnmeyer, who graduated from Missouri State University in 2004, is charged with billing the state for more than $3,600 in fake claims from January to September of 2009.  If convicted of all the charges, he faces up 39 years in prison, plus penalties and restitution.

“One of my top priorities as Attorney General is prosecuting those who cheat Missouri's Medicaid system,” Koster said.  “This kind of illegal conduct denies medical resources that would otherwise be directed to needy Missourians.”

Koster said citizens can report suspected Medicaid provider fraud, abuse or neglect to his toll free Medicaid Fraud Hotline at 800-286-3932, or submit a complaint at the following links.

 e-mail a complaint

complete a complaint form 

Stone County Prosecutor Dismisses Charges Against Zack Stewart In Connection To Dulin's Murder:

Zackary Lee Stewart ( mug shot GCSO)

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Charges of first-degree murder have been dismissed against Zackary Lee Stewart in connection to the November 29, 2006 shooting death of David Dulin.

A Greene County jury found Stewart guilty of murder back in 2008.  On May 29th of this year, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously reversed the jury's verdict on evidentiary matters.  Today, Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby says he agrees with the High Court's ruling and dismissed the murder charge citing a lack of evidence.

Selby says even though there is no physical evidence linking Stewart to the crime, he believes Stewart received a fair trial with an impartial jury.  He says the investigation into Dulin's murder is ongoing and that there is no statute of limitations on filing charges in a murder case.

Background:

It was a case every prosecutor dreads...a murder with multiple players with motive, means and opportunity. That was what Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby dealt with for two years before he got the first-degree murder trial of Zackary Lee Stewart, 21, Hurley, before a Greene County jury.
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Selby maintained that Stewart was responsible for the murder of 53 year-old David "Dave" Dulin, of Hurley, on November 29, 2006. About four months after Dulin's murder, Selby filed murder charges against Stewart and Leo Connelly. He said the pair went to Dulin's house to rob him and steal his drugs.

A little after midnight Dulin called 9-1-1 and told the dispatcher that two men in their 20's and 30's had broken into his home and shot him in the head with his own .22 pistol.

As Dulin lay dying, he was conscious on the line with the dispatcher for about 5 minutes while first responders made their way to his rural home. He told the 9-1-1 operator that he did not know who shot him, but stated that the assailants were from Hurley and that one of the men said he was the "Eby girl's boyfriend."

The phone line stayed open for the 25 minutes it took authorities to get to Dulin's home on Tin Can Hollow, the dispatcher could hear the sirens approaching and the sound of the first deputy's footsteps in the house. Dulin had crawled across the living room to unlock the front door for those coming to help him. He had been shot four times and was found dead just inside the front door of his home.

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Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby

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Stewart's trial was moved from Stone County to Greene County on a change of venue, which was automatically granted, because the county has less than 75,000 residents.

I was in the courtroom when the jury returned with their guilty verdict, it was emotional on both sides of the table. Bittersweet for Dulin's family members; shock and disbelief for Stewart's loved ones.

Stewart was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for Dulin's murder, but evidence uncovered during and after the trial has raised questions about Stewart's guilt.

On May 25th, The Missouri Supreme Court granted Stewart a new trial based on an evidentiary matter.

Stewart was an 18-year-old high school senior in Hurley at the time of Dulin's murder. When investigators contacted him, he told them that he had no knowledge of Dulin's murder, but he did volunteer information that had not been released to the public or the media (when the crime purportedly occurred and the caliber of weapon involved). He stated that if he was going to kill someone he would not use a .22 caliber weapon, "something he would have to shoot four or five times with to kill them."

Stewart was again questioned about Dulin's murder a few months later when he was jailed on a DWI charge.

A sheriff's detective told Stewart that a witness placed him, his sister Christy Pethoud, and Christy's boyfriend, Leo Connelly, in a light colored car on a road near Dulin's home the night of the murder. He was told the murder weapon had been recovered in Springfield and was asked if there might be a reason his DNA would be at the crime scene. Stewart maintained that he was not involved, that he did not know anything, and that he had never left his sister's home that night.

Stewart was then placed in an isolation cell while searches were conducted. He later requested to talk to a detective. Crying, scared, and upset, Stewart told Detective Karl Wagner that he thought Leo Connelly was responsible for Dulin's murder.

Two jail house snitches, Coty Pollard and Victor Parker, who shared a cell with Stewart, contacted investigators and said that Stewart told them about Dulin's murder. Both men testified for the State at Stewart's trial.

They testified on the stand that Stewart said he went to Dulin's home the night of the murder with Christy Pethoud, Leo Connelly, his (Stewart's) mother Paula Eby, Mark Myers, and Myers son, Robert to "take his dope."

According to the states witnesses, they arrived in two vehicles (Zack, Christy, and Leo were in a white Ford Escort; Paula, Mark, and Robert in a Jeep Cherokee,) and that Robert guarded Dulin while the others ransacked the house looking for drugs. The duo testified that Stewart told them Dulin pulled a gun and Stewart wrestled it away from him and shot him four times.
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Pollard and Parker told investigators it was at that point the group panicked and fled the scene, (Leo and Zackary left in the Escort; the others left in the Cherokee) burned the clothes they had been wearing in a barrel and threw them in the river. Leo Connelly was chosen to get rid of the gun.
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Tobin called just one witness–Stewart's sister Christy–who testified that no one left her house the night of Dulin's murder.

The high court says the most alarming problem in Stewart's trial is that family members of Dulin's told Selby during the trial that they had never seen Dulin in possession of a bloody hat that was found at the crime scene and introduced into evidence as belonging to him.

Selby says, "This case was a little bit like reality T.V. at this point in the trial. It is very strange to have a DNA issue come up in the middle of a trial."

He requested an alpha rush to the state crime lab to test the hat to get a DNA profile. On the the third day of Stewart's murder trial the jury was provided with bombshell preliminary DNA results.  The DNA on the hat didn't belong to Stewart or Connelly. It belonged to three other people; Dulin, Stewart's brother-in-law Tim Seaman, and another unknown person.

During closing arguments, Selby argued that the preliminary DNA information from the bloody hat reflected a DNA "hit" to Seaman made by an investigative database. He stressed that it was not a DNA "match" confirmed by comparing it with Seaman's actual DNA. Seaman was not identified at trial as a person who was with Stewart during Dulin's murder.

In a statement after Stewart's trial, Detective Wagner said he received a tip that Seaman had disclosed to his brother that he had "taken someones life." Seaman did not indicate whose life he took, but his brother Randy stated that he had not taken Tim's statements seriously until he heard about the bloody hat found near Dulin's body.

Randy Seaman also stated it was his brother's hat or a hat identical to the one he had for a long period of time, and that his brother also drove a light tan or white vehicle.

Robert Bales, Seaman's nephew, testified at a motion hearing that his uncle had confided to him the morning after Dulin's murder that he (Tim Seaman) and his friend, John Mills, were at Dulin's house when he was killed.

Detective Wagner testified that Randy Seaman told him that Tim was at Randy's house in November and they were drinking when Tim told Randy “that he had taken someones life, and asked him how you deal with that.”

In the high court's ruling the justices note, "Seaman allegedly admitted to Robert Bales that he and John Mills witnessed the murder-causing Mills to vomit the next morning. That, combined with the DNA of an unknown person on dentures found, makes two at the murder scene, which is what Victim described in his 9-1-1 call. Detective Wagner testified that Tim also confessed to Randy Seaman that he had taken a life."
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Selby ignored the high court's ruling and was adamant about trying Stewart again for Dulin's murder.  The case was set to go to trial on Valentine's Day next year.
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Late this afternoon, (12-3-10) Selby said he's received "more information" about Dulin's death. "Based on all of the information currently available," Selby said, "I do not believe that it is appropriate to continue Zackary Stewart's current prosecution."

The prosecutor, who dismissed murder charges against Connelly for lack of evidence says, "In 20 years of practice I have never had a case reversed on appeal."
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Stacie Bilyeu, who along with Grant Rahmeyer now represents Stewart says, "We've been in negotiations with Matt for some time now.  We knew this was going to happen....just not today.  We're ecstatic!  It's been four long years now that an innocent man has been in jail or prison.  It's time for him to go home."