Arrested News Graphic

Grundy County authorities report the arrest of four individuals

The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of four individuals in court on April 14th on capias warrants on probation violations. Forty-year-old Shawn Alan Wells of Maryville was originally charged in one case with felony non-support with total arrears in excess of 12 monthly payments due under an order of support. In another case, […]

Cocaine News Graphic

Missouri man sentenced to 30 years in prison for crack cocaine trafficking and an illegal Firearm

A Missouri man with an extensive history of violent crime was sentenced in federal court for trafficking crack cocaine and illegally possessing a firearm. Mitchell B. Byrd, 43, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 30 years in federal prison without parole. This sentence is an upward variance from the […]

Photo of handgun and ammunition (Photo by Thomas Def on Unsplash)

Department of Justice rule cracks down untraceable firearms known as ‘ghost guns’

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden Monday unveiled the Department of Justice’s plan to regulate untraceable firearms known as ghost guns, as well as announced his nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The Department of Justice’s final rule bans the business of manufacturing ghost guns, such as “buy build shoot” kits […]

Yard signs for GOP Senate candidates greet Republicans attending Boone County Lincoln Days Friday in Columbia (Rudi Keller - Missouri Independent)

No signs of support for Greitens in Missouri county where abuse charges will be heard

(Missouri Independent) –  A smattering of giggles greeted the name of former Gov. Eric Greitens Friday evening when emcee Branden Rathert called for the U.S. Senate candidates invited to speak at Boone County Republican Lincoln Days to come forward. Up to that point, there had been no trace of Greitens or his campaign at the […]

Missouri Supreme Court

Supreme Court refuses to hear Kim Gardner appeal in Eric Greitens records case

(Missouri Independent) – It will be up to a St. Louis judge to decide how long Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has to produce records sought by a journalist considered an ally of former Gov. Eric Greitens. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a last-ditch appeal by Gardner of an order giving her […]

Indictment graphic with gavel and file folder

Three separate indictments handed down in Harrison County involving murder, assault and sex crimes involving a child

Grand jury indictments were filed in Harrison County this week on three men. Forty-one-year-old Travis William Gilliland of Ridgeway has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Bail was set at $250,000 for all counts. A probable cause affidavit accused Gilliland of shooting and killing Lynn Trammell in March. Fifty-eight-year-old Stephen Marshall of […]

Jeffrey Perkins

Trenton man charged with multiple sex crimes in Daviess County including incest, rape, sodomy, child molestation and domestic assault

A Trenton man faces multiple sex-related felony charges in Daviess County stemming from alleged incidents with a blood descendant beginning in 2020 and extending to March 2022. Thirty-four-year-old Jeffery Perkins has been charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of second-degree child molestation. He also has been charged with one count […]

Rape Kit or DNA Testing

Missouri clearing backlog of untested, unreported rape kits, getting FBI matches on suspect DNA

In a major milestone, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced at a press conference earlier that the Attorney General’s Office has worked with 169 law enforcement agencies to clear their backlogs of untested, report sexual assault kits. In total, 3,298 untested, reported kits have been sent to the lab to be tested. Further, because of […]

Scott Adams

Hamilton man allegedly attempts to set fire to his home with wife and two children inside

A Hamilton man faces multiple felony charges after he allegedly tried to set fire to his house on March 31st while his wife and two children were inside. Thirty-one-year-old Scott Clay Adams has been charged with first-degree attempted arson, second-degree domestic assault, armed criminal action, and two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a […]

Candidates Forum

Audio: Candidates for Trenton R-9 School Board answer questions from the public during forum on Wednesday

Three candidates for the Trenton R-9 Board of Education participated in a forum in the Rissler Elementary School Library on March 30th. Incumbent Dorothy Taul, Toby Havens, and Jeff Spencer are running for two three-year terms. The forum was relocated after the evacuation of Trenton High School, where the event was originally to be held. […]

Meth news graphic

Missouri man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for trafficking 100 pounds of meth and illegal firearms

A Missouri man who sold an assault rifle and methamphetamine to an undercover federal agent has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for illegally possessing firearms. Jacob Michael Richardson, 34, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Tuesday, March 29, […]

Abortion Graphic

Missouri House blocks effort to limit access to out-of-state abortions

(Missouri Independent) – A bill that would make it a felony to donate fetal tissue from abortions for research or therapies won first-round approval in the Missouri House Tuesday, but lawmakers blocked an effort to make it illegal to help women obtain an abortion outside the state. The bill sponsored by Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, […]

Representative Dan Shaul and chair of house special committee on Redristricting (photo courtesy Tim Bommel - Missouri House Communications

Missouri Senate congressional redistricting plan stalls on return to the House

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri House members are not ready to accept the congressional redistricting map approved by the state Senate. The House met Monday without voting on the Senate plan, approved Thursday at the end of a Senate session that lasted almost 24 hours. State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial and chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson photo courtesy Wikipedia

GOP senators attack and interrupt Judge Jackson in final day of questioning U.S. Supreme Court nominee

(Missouri Independent) – In the third day of hearings Wednesday on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, several Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee interrogated her about sentences she handed down for child pornography offenses, disagreeing vehemently with her judicial decisions. Republicans grilled her with questions she had already answered […]

Republican Party

New Eric Greitens abuse allegations reignite GOP fears of losing Missouri Senate seat

(Missouri Independent) – The prospect of Eric Greitens capturing the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri was already terrifying to his party’s leaders. He had been forced out of the governor’s office in 2018, resigning to settle felony charges and avoid impeachment by a Republican legislative supermajority.  Yet despite all that, he’s consistently led […]

Prison Sentence News Graphic

Missouri Couple sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting children and producing child pornography

A Missouri, couple was sentenced in federal court for sexually assaulting two young children to produce child pornography, and for receiving and distributing child pornography. Mark John Millman, 37, a citizen of Great Britain and a legal alien resident, and his wife and co-defendant, Tara Sau Millman, 42, of Merriam Village, were sentenced in separate […]

Illegal Firearms and firearm theft

Irondale, Missouri man sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by convicted felon

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Eli B. Rawlins, age 35, of Irondale, Missouri, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for the offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Rawlins appeared for his plea and sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse […]

Gavel and Law book news graphic

Audio: Missouri Supreme Court rules in favor of state’s public defenders in “sex assault survivors” law

The Missouri Supreme Court has sided with the state’s public defenders in the so-called Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights challenge case. Missouri State Public Defender Mary Fox and other public defenders challenged the part of the law that required the defense in a sex crimes case to inform the alleged victim of their rights […]

Gavel with word indictment news graphic

Former corrections official indicted for sexually assaulting a dozen female inmates while serving as a nurse

A federal indictment was unsealed in Portland, Oregon, charging a former Oregon Department of Corrections employee with sexually assaulting a dozen female inmates while serving as a nurse at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Oregon’s only women’s prison. Tony Daniel Klein, 37, of Clackamas County, Oregon, is charged with 21 counts of depriving the victims […]