Deadly Shooting

Kirksville police arrest one individual involved in shooting as investigation continues

One of two men have been arrested as the investigation continues into a Kirksville shooting on December 30th that claimed two lives and injured two others. On Sunday night, January 2, 2022, at about 9:25 pm, the Kirksville Police Department, assisted by the U.S. Marshals, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, […]

Trenton Missouri Police Department (TPD)

Trenton man facing charges of harassment, stalking and assault

Charges have been filed against A Trenton man following an investigation last week by the Trenton Police Department. Twenty-four-year-old Isaac James Wattenbarger faces three felony counts: 1st-degree harassment, 1st-degree stalking, and 2nd-degree assault. Bond is $35,000 cash with Wattenbarger to appear December 14th in Associate Division of Grundy County Circuit Court. Wattenbarger is accused of causing […]

United States Supreme Court (Phot credit Laura Olson - States Newsroom)

U.S. Supreme Court considers new limits on abortions in Mississippi case

(Missouri Independent) – The Supreme Court is weighing potentially sweeping changes to the right to an abortion, after two hours of arguments Wednesday morning on a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court’s conservatives, who hold a 6-3 majority, appeared through their questions to be sympathetic to Mississippi’s arguments […]

Judge sets aside conviction: After 43-years in prison, Kevin Strickland is a free man

After spending  43-years in prison, a Kansas City man convicted of a triple murder is a free man.     Judge James Welsh concluded that prosecutors met the burden of providing convincing evidence that undermines Strickland’s conviction in the 1978 murder of three people. The judge also pointed out that there was no physical evidence […]

Prison Sentence News Graphic

Man sentenced to 11 years in prison for armed robbery of a pharmacy

 A man was sentenced in federal court for his role in the armed robbery of a Walgreens pharmacy in Jefferson City, Missouri. Daijahn Antwan Reed, 22, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. On Aug. 17, 2021, Reed pleaded guilty […]

Murder

Savannah man charged with murder after investigation into human remains in Union Star

A Savannah man has been charged in DeKalb County with second-degree murder after law enforcement found human remains at a residence in Union Star last week. Online court information indicates 31-year-old Jodie Jacob Downs has also been charged with the felonies of armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful use of a […]

Audio: Evidence hearing grew tense during testimony in Kevin Strickland case

An evidence hearing grew tense about a man convicted of killing three people in Missouri in 1978. Day three of Kevin Strickland’s hearing continues in western Missouri’s Jackson County. Strickland has maintained his innocence and has said he was not at the crime scene. Jackson County prosecutors say a woman shot during the murders later […]

Murder

Jury trial scheduled in DeKalb County for Hamilton man charged with murder

A jury trial has been scheduled in DeKalb County for a Hamilton man charged with second-degree murder. The DeKalb County Circuit Clerk’s Office reports the trial for 38-year-old Frank Randall Allen Bostic is set to be April 25th through 29th. He has also been charged with felony first-degree domestic assault involving serious physical injury. In […]

Audio: Convicted Missouri triple murderer takes the stand in hearing that could lead to exoneration

After more than 40 years in prison, a man convicted of a 1978 triple murder in Missouri headed to court for a hearing in which he maintained his innocence. Kevin Strickland took the stand for his first-ever hearing since being convicted. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who says the man is innocent, questioned Strickland […]

Murder

Woman arrested at Chicago O’Hare Airport for conspiring to kill her mother and placing body in suitcase

An Illinois woman was arrested when she arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, for allegedly murdering her mother on Aug. 12, 2014, while on vacation in Bali, Indonesia. Heather Mack, 26, is alleged to have conspired with her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 28, to kill her mother, Sheila Von Weise, while Mack and Von Weise […]

Prison Sentence

Brookfield man sentenced to 30-years in prison in murder case that resulted in death of 11-year old boy

The Linn County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office reports a man has been sentenced on felony charges of abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death and abuse or neglect of a child. Fifty-year-year old Darrel Royal was sentenced in Livingston County Circuit Court on November 1, 2021, to 30 years in the Missouri Department of […]

Edward Eli Withey (Photo courtesy Missouri State Highway Patrol)

Man charged with murdering wife, facing charges in Daviess County, after assaulting inmate at Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail

A Higbee man has been charged in Daviess County with two counts of felony third-degree assault after allegedly assaulting another detainee at the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail in August. Twenty-one-year-old Edward James Elijah Withey’s bond was set at $35,000 cash only. He is to submit to any form of alcohol or drug testing immediately upon the […]

Garland Joey Nelson Booking Photo

Braymer man charged with murder of Diemel brothers pleads “Not Guilty” to stealing in Caldwell County court

The Braymer man charged with two counts of first-degree murder in Johnson County for the death of two Wisconsin men pleaded not guilty October 12 to a felony stealing charge in Division One of Caldwell County Circuit Court. Twenty-seven-year-old Garland Joseph Nelson waived formal arraignment. The case was continued to November 9th for a plea or […]

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI to investigate threats made against school board members, teachers

(Missouri Independent) – The Department of Justice has directed the FBI to meet with local governments and law enforcement to discuss strategies for dealing with increasing threats to teachers and school board members spurred by a conservative backlash against discussions of race in public schools. “Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to […]

Earnest Johnson scheduled to be executed by the State of Missouri today (October 5, 2021)

Missouri Governor Mike Parson won’t block execution of intellectually disabled man

(Missouri Independent) – Rejecting calls from lawmakers, advocates, and even the Pope for him to stop the execution of Ernest Johnson, an intellectually disabled man convicted of murder in 1995, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Monday that the state will carry out the death sentence as planned at 6 p.m. Tuesday. “The state is prepared […]

Missouri State Highway Patrol Website New 2021 (MSHP)

Missouri State Highway Patrol arrests Delaware woman wanted on murder warrant

The Highway Patrol reports the arrest of a Delaware woman in Harrison County on Friday morning, September 24, on a fugitive from out of state felony warrant, for homicide. The warrant for 20 old Pearl Agbemenu of Wilmington, Delaware was from the Superior Court of Wilmington. She was also accused of speeding. The Patrol notes […]