Man Charged With Assault After Shooting, Stabbing Adult Bookstore Clerk:

Brian Lloyd Jacobs (mug shot GCSO)

A thirty nine year-old man is behind bars in Greene County after allegedly shooting and stabbing a clerk at an adult bookstore in west Springfield yesterday (05-28-11.)

Prosecutors have charged Brian Lloyd Jacobs with assault, robbery and three counts of armed criminal action.

Deputies say Jacobs got into an altercation with a clerk, who was shot in the hip and stabbed four times, at Paradise News and Arcade as he attempted to steal items from the store

Jacobs is being held in the Greene County jail on $200,000 bond and will be formally arraigned when court resumes following the Memorial Day holiday.

Springfield Man Found Guilty Of Drunk Driving Crash That Killed Elderly Man:

Jeremy W. Arata (mug shot GCSO)

A Springfield man has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for a 2007 drunk driving crash that killed an elderly man.

After three hours of deliberation a Greene County jury found twenty three year-old Jeremy W. Arata, 23, guilty today of slamming his car into seventy eight year-old Paul Fain's vehicle as he pulled away from a stop sign at Weller and Dale on November 15, 2007.

 

 

Fain was killed in the car crash (courtesy of KOLR/KSFX)

 

Court records say Arata's vehicle had at times reached speeds of 60 m.ph. in the residential area before the crash and the man's blood alcohol level was .146% - .08% is the legal limit in Missouri.

 

Arata, who already has a drunk driving conviction and is on probation for leaving the scene of an accident, faces between five to fifteen years behind bars when he is sentenced on August 5th.

Joplin Man Sentenced To 8 Years For 2009 Baseball Bat Beating Death:

Aaron E. Pilgrim (mug shot JCSO)

A man from Joplin has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to beating a man to death in 2009.

Aaron Eugene Pilgrim, 37, of rural Joplin was originally charged with second-degree murder for 50 year-old Ralph "Bub" Ernest Ivy Jr.'s death but pleaded guilty in February to involuntary manslaughter.

Jasper County Sheriff's Captain Derek Walrod says Pilgrim, Ivy and Pilgrim's former girlfriend Crystal Lynch were drinking at the woman's home on Red Fox Road when a fight broke out inside the house.  Acording to Walrod, Pilgrim confronted Ivy about some alleged sexual advances the older man made to Lynch's 11 year-old sister.

Ralph E. Ivy Jr. (mug shot JCSO)

After the fight spilled out onto the front yard Ivy went back inside the house and retrieved a baseball bat while Pilgrim armed himself with "a wooden club," according to Walrod.  Investigators also recovered a silver knife and a pair bloody scissors from the crime scene.

At the plea hearing in February, Pilgrim told Judge David Dally that he took the deal because he was afraid he would be found guilty of murder (which carries up to 30 years in prison) at trial and admitted that he hit Ivy with a bat but that he didn't think it would kill him.

Stone County Woman Busted For Allegdly Cooking Meth On Church Premises:

Amy Ann Hammers (mug shot SCSO)

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A Stone County woman was busted after authorities allegedly found her cooking meth in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church in Ponce De Leon on Friday May 13th.

Authorities have been watching that location after receiving ongoing reports that people were using the site to manufacture methamphetamine.

According to a news release, Deputy Duane Keithley noticed Amy Ann Hammers, 32, of Ponce De Leon sitting in a suspicious vehicle and asked for permission to search the vehicle. 

Hammers was arrested after the search revealed methamphetamine precursors and a small bottle containing chemicals that were in the “reaction” stage of a “one pot” (AKA shake and bake) method in methamphetamine production inside the vehicle.

Agents with the COMET Drug Task Force were called in to assist in the cleanup of the methamphetamine chemicals and precursors.

Hammers has been charged with possession of a controlled substance and is being held in the Stone County jail on a $25,000 cash only bond.  She could face additional charges after authorities receive lab results on the contents inside the bottle. 

What Happened To Shawn Spencer? Camden County Authorities Asking For Help In Five Year-old Missing Person's Case:

What happened to Shawn Spencer?  If you know call 573-346-2243

Authorities in Camden County are asking for the public's help in a five year-old missing persons case.

Shawn Eric Spencer, of Montreal, who would now be 31, was reported missing by his mother on April 18, 2007. However, he was last seen alive by family members about a year before that.  Spencer's mother told investigators that her son would sometimes disappear for months at a time, but when she hadn't heard from him in over a year she became concerned and reported him missing.

Spencer is 5' 10", 130 to 150 pounds, with blonde hair and brown eyes.  He has mechanical type tattoos on both legs, a jester with a skull face on his arm and an 8 ball and red alien on his shoulder.  He also has acne scars on his face. Authorities have DNA from both parents on file.

Tattoos on Spencer's right leg

Camden County Detective Wendy Kost says Spencer and his dog, who is also missing, were last seen on April 4, 2006, with a friend who has since moved to Illinois.  "We are trying to track that person down to see what, if anything, they can tell us."

Spencer lived in the Lakes area for about 15 years before his disappearance and authorities would like to talk to anyone who knew him.
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If you have information on Spencer or his possible whereabouts you're asked to contact the Camden County Sheriff's office at 573-346-2243.

Southwest City Man Leads Authorities On Multi County Chase:

Cody Nathaniel Willcoxson

A man from Southwest City is behind bars in Phelps County in connection to a shooting incident involving law enforcers from several agencies following a brief security breach at Fort Leonard Wood and a scare at a nearby university.

Authorities say it all started about 8:36 a.m. when Cody N. Willcoxson tried to get on to the army base through the west gate this morning but was refused entrance because he did not have the proper credentials.  When military police instructed Willcoxson to turn around and exit the post he floored it and led MP's on a chase through the base and exited through the main gate.

As Pulaski County Sheriff's deputies and officers with the the St. Roberts and Rolla police departments pursued Willcoxson eastbound on I-44 he fired shots from an Ak-47 at them from a grey vehicle.

He led authorities to the S & T campus where at approximately 8:45 a.m he ran into McNutt Hall with a rifle.  The hall houses the Mining and Nuclear Engineering department, classrooms, offices and labs.  An Ak-47 was found outside the building after Willcoxson fled the scene. 

Law enforcers surround Willcoxson's car on S & T campus

The school went on lockdown around 9 a.m. and used it's website and text messaging to keep students and faculty updated and says no shots were fired on the campus. The school officially lifted the lockdown about 1:40 p.m.

Rolla police said a few minutes later the suspect broke into a residence in the 1000 block of Crinoidal Ct and demanded the keys to the resident's car and stole it.

A Highway Patrol trooper spotted the suspects vehicle south of Rolla and after a short pursuit,Willcoxson stopped the vehicle and was taken into custody. He suffered minor cuts, likely from broken glass when he shot out his car windows. No one else was injured in the spree.

Willcoxson being taken into custody

He was released from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in 2008 after serving about 3 1/2 years for burglary.  While he was serving time authorities say he masterminded at least two jail escapes; one involved nine inmates and Willcoxson eluded authorities for 3 years following one of the escapes.

Missouri S&T issued a press release that said the gunman went inside McNutt Hall on the Rolla campus.  The hall houses classrooms, offices and labs.
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According to a notice posted on Missouri S&T's website, no shots were fired on campus and no one was injured.

Missouri S&T gunman search -


More than 150 officers were involved in apprehending Willcoxson.

Willcoxon is facing numerous firearms, assault of law enforcement officer charges and resisting arrest in at least two counties. He was also allegedly in possession of methamphetamine when he was apprehended.

 He is being held on a $1 Million dollar cash only bond.


*********UPDATE 05-13-11- Authorities now believe that Willcoxson made a wrong turn and was lost when he arrived at Fort Leonard Wood and panicked not wanting to be found in possession of the firearm because he is a convicted felon. 

Willcoxson will probably be federally charged as a felon in possession of a firearm.

UPDATED~Babysitter Enters Aflord Plea To Toddlers Murder; Sentenced To 15 Years:

Byron Dewayne Lang (Joplin PD)

Jury selection begins today in Jasper County for a man charged with second-degree murder for the death of a two year-old little boy he was babysitting in 2008. (UPDATE - Lang entered an Alford plea during jury selection to the little boys murder.)

On September 2nd, 2008, Byron Dewayne Lang, now 21, took two-year old Kyler DeShawn Jones to St. John’s Express Care at 1313 S. Range Line Road in Joplin unconscious and not breathing.  The little boy was pronounced dead about 15 minutes later.
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Joplin police Lt. Mike Hobson says Meagan Jones, Kyler's mother, had left him in the care of Lang and his girlfriend at their apartment a few days before his death. Sources say Jones, who pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in July of 2008, had left the little boy in the care of the couple on prior occasions for as long as a week. Kyler's father, Terry Miller, was working out of state at the time.
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At Lang's preliminary hearing in August of 2009, Joplin police Detective Michael Gayman testified that Lang told him he noticed Kyler standing near his potty chair with blood on his mouth. The child had wet himself, Lang reportedly told the detective.
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Kyler DeShawn Jones

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Lang allegedly told Gayman that as he was cleaning the boy up his eyes rolled back in his head, he became unresponsive and stopped breathing. Lang said he made the decision to take Kyler to the urgent care clinic instead of calling 9-1-1.....and stopped for gas on the way.

Prosecutors allege that Lang was stressed out after caring for the little boy for several days and beat him to death because he wet his pants.

After investigative reports were obtained they shed light on what had to be the terror filled last moments of the child's life - allegedly taken by someone he looked to for comfort.

The first autopsy performed on Kyler in Springfield was inconclusive.  A second autopsy on the little boy by a medical examiner in Columbia revealed the little boy died from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen and Lang was charged with murder five-and-a-half months after the boys death.

The medical examiner from Boone County, who conducted the second autopsy, testified at Lang's prelim that Kyler had 21 soft-tissue injuries to his body, including three on top of his head which cased a skull fracture and caused his brain to bleed.

The medical examiner also said blunt trauma to the toddlers abdomen caused internal bleeding and injuries to his upper chest damaged his aorta, and his lungs had filled with blood.

Lt. Hobson says investigators aren't sure if any objects other than Lang's hands and feet were used to inflict the blows the little boy suffered. He said medical examiners believe that it wasn't a single blow that caused Kyler's death. Instead, it was “a totality of all the wounds” that took his life.

In September of 2009 Lang was formally arraigned in circuit court and was released on $50,000 bond. By October, he had jumped bail and was on the run from the law.

Byron Lang and his son (photo Joplin PD)

Authorities looked for Lang for months, even issuing a news release around Christmas of 2009 asking people in the Joplin area to be on the lookout for him because they thought he might return to the area to visit his own son. 

Lang had absconded to Big Spring, Texas.  He was captured there in March of 2010 and has been held without bail (because he is considered a flight risk) since being returned to Jasper County last year.

Last month Lang turned down a plea deal that would have capped his prison sentence at 15 years.

***Meagan Jones and Terry Miller reunited and have a 1 year-old daughter, Jayvin.
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UPDATE 05-10-11 @ 12:25 p.m.:

As noted above, Lang entered an Alford plea today during jury selection.  An Alford plea is one where the defendant does not admit guilt but concedes the state has enough evidence for a likely conviction.  He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Last month Lang was charged with delivery or possession of a controlled substance in a jail and failure to appear.

Grid Search Conducted At Porter's And Neighboring Properties:



Rusty and Becky Porter (family photo)


Searchers on horseback combed three properties and two caves in Willard today (05-04-11) in an attempt to find clues in the disappearance of Becky and Rusty Porter, who have now been missing for seventeen days. 

The grid search of 120 acres began at about 7:00 this morning included approximately 40 sheriff's deputies and civilian deputies, tracking dogs and ATV's.  Authorities also searched several vehicles in the area and at 1:00 p.m. a backhoe arrived at the site and was being used near a pond and a barn, according to Becky Porter's brother, Darrell Hufft.

Sheriff Jim Arnott told Hufft that they had received a tip that evidence related to the couple's disappearance would be found on the property.  "They left with at least one bag of stuff," Hufft said.

Porter's home in Willard (courtesy Springfield News-Leader)



Family last talked with Becky and Rusty Porter, who were at their home at 6703 State Highway HH a little after 8 p.m. on April 17th.  Becky Porter told her daughter she was sick and in bed. 

After not hearing from her mother for over a day, Becky Porter's daughter reported the couple missing after finding the couples car with the keys in the ignition and the doors to the house wide open. Inside the house were Becky's purse, cell phones, medication, shoes, and relatives say the house reeked of bleach - "the plastic runways they had to protect the hardwood floor were soaked in bleach," according to Hufft. 

Security cameras the couple had outside their home were also knocked down.

Hufft says the couple had the cameras because they lived in the country and also because Russell's uncle, Robert Campbell, who lives next door and is an over the road truck driver, had been harassing the couple over a land transfer within the family.

Campbell, his son T. C. and Rusty Porter had each filed orders of protection against each other in the last month before the couple went missing.  A consent judgment was granted to each party and they were ordered to steer clear of each other.
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Becky Porter's brother Darrell Huftt

"Everybody knows what happened, they [authorities] know what happened......they're just trying to prove it.  The sheriff told me that they've wanted this guy for twelve years but people don't show up for court or they disappear.  When you get someone else to do your dirty work, it's hard to prove."

Rusty and Becky Porter (GCSO release)

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According to Hufft, family members are beginning to crack under the intense pressure, "Some of them are fighting....it just eats at you."

At one family gathering outside the Porter's home Hufft says R.C. walked up to two of his nieces and snickered, "Their in a better place."

"He thinks he's untouchable," Hufft said.

Yesterday Arnott and relatives of the Porters announced a reward of up to $15,000 for information on their disappearance. 

On May 21st friends and family members of the Porter's will have a spaghetti supper at 5 p.m. at Crane Community Center.  Proceeds are slated to be added to the reward fund.

The department is not only dealing with the Porter's disappearance - they are also investigating the double homicide last week of an elderly couple that had been married for 52 years.

Helen Willingham called 9-1-1 at 5:44 a.m. on Monday April 25th and told an emergency dispatcher that there was a male intruder in her home who was assaulting her 79 year-old husband, Donald.
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Donald "Don and Helen Willingham

When authorities arrived at the couple's home 9 minutes later they found the couple dead from multiple stab wounds.

There have been 96 leads, but no arrests in the Wilingham's murders. Authorities have released a surveillance photo of a person of interest that they would like to talk to in the case.



Do you know this person?  Investigators would like to question him about the Willingham's murders



The family of the Willingham's have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for their loved ones murders.

If you have any information about either of these cases you're asked to call the Greene County Sheriff's Office at 417-868-4040 or 9-1-1.

Springfield Police Turning To The Web In An Effort To Solve Cold Cases:

The Springfield police department has added a new feature to their website that focuses on the department's unsolved cold cases.

Until now the department only had information into Springfield's most baffling unsolved mystery, the Three Missing Women on the site.  "Chief Williams asked why we didn't have other cases up.  We really didn't have an answer," said Springfield police public information officer Corporal Matt Brown.  "So we decided to utilize the tools available."

Sherill Levitt, Suzanne "Suzie" Streeter and Stacy McCall went missing from Levitt's home in June of 1992.  Now, seven other unsolved cases are highlighted in an attempt to bring a resolution to them.

The cases, which date from1992 and 2002, "Are not all inclusive for every cold case homicide the SPD is investigating, but are included because they have the most recent homicide information to date within a relatively recent time frame," Brown said in a news release.

"We have some cold cases that go back to the '50's but we had to look realistically at the viability of the cases we decided to spotlight.  Some of them are just one or two tips away from solving....others will take more work," said Brown.

Each case is summarized with the initial events surrounding the death of each victim each including the date, time, location and possible suspect information.