A Fair Grove, Missouri, man who is a member of the Southwest Honkys violent prison gang pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy in which investigators intercepted a shipment of nearly 9.5 kilograms of methamphetamine. William F. Jones, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to participating […]
Lifetime Trenton resident and retired farmer, Donald Clark Woodard died at his home south of Trenton, Friday morning May 15th at 9:45 am. He was 96. A graveside service with Military Honors will be held at Resthaven Memorial Gardens on Thursday afternoon at 2 pm. Those wishing to attend are asked to bring lawn chairs. […]
A man who escaped from a Springfield, Missouri, halfway house 17 months ago pleaded guilty in federal court after being caught crossing the border from Mexico into San Diego, California. Benjamin E. Garnica, 34, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to escaping from federal custody. Garnica was sentenced on March 20, 2014, […]
A Chicago, Illinois, man who was arrested while driving through northern Missouri was sentenced in federal court for possessing nearly a kilogram of methamphetamine to distribute. Kevin M. Phyfiher, 29, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 15 years in federal prison without parole. On Oct. 29, 2019, Phyfiher pleaded guilty to one […]
At 6:10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, convicted murderer Walter Barton, 64, was pronounced dead at the state prison in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre. Barton was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1991 brutal stabbing death of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler of southwest Missouri’s Ozark. His death makes Missouri the first state in the nation […]
The governor says the execution of a convicted southwest Missouri killer will move forward, clearing the way for Tuesday evening’s scheduled execution in Bonne Terre. Governor Mike Parson told Capitol reporters on Monday in Jefferson City that he hasn’t seen any reason to intervene in Walter Barton’s scheduled execution, saying “that will move forward as […]
A federal judge has issued a stay of execution in the case of a convicted southwest Missouri killer, who was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening at the maximum-security prison in Bonne Terre. 64-year-old Walter Barton was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1991 killing of 81-year-old Gladys Kuehler. She managed a mobile home park […]
Prison sentences were announced on four defendants during Thursday’s session in the Grundy County Circuit Court. Trenton resident Timothy Persell Junior admitted to probation violations. His probation was revoked and he was sentenced to seven years with the Department of Corrections on each of three counts of distributing or delivering drugs early in 2016. The […]
A Columbia, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing methamphetamine and a firearm. Anthony Maurice Malin, 39, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps Jr. to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. A […]
The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously denied a request from a convicted murderer from southwest Missouri’s Ozark, clearing the way for his execution to take place next month in Bonne Terre. The Supreme Court has denied 64-year-old Walter Barton’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. A writ of habeas corpus is essentially a court […]
A rural Bethany resident, 35-year-old Joseph Borntreger has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to multiple sex-related counts. Borntreger entered guilty pleas to four counts of statutory rape in the second degree; two counts of statutory sodomy; three counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under the age of 15; and one count of […]
The Missouri Department of Corrections has received notification that 19 offenders in a quarantined housing wing at Southeast Correctional Center (SECC) have tested positive for COVID-19. Following positive test results for three of the wing’s residents earlier this week, the Department of Corrections took proactive measures to gather vital data, contain the virus, and protect the SECC […]
A case file is now complete regarding the arrest of a 24-year-old man after the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a vehicle stuck in a cemetery east of Chillicothe March 24th. Officers arrested William Rex Long (no address given) on various criminal violations. Cox reports Long has a prior drug-related conviction […]
The Missouri Supreme Court heard remote oral arguments on Wednesday in a high-profile case involving the Cole County circuit court’s 2018 decision to award more than $113 million in overtime pay for Missouri corrections officers. It’s a case that’s been working its way through the court system for eight years, and it’s a case that could […]
The Missouri Department of Corrections has received notification that an offender at Southeast Correctional Center (SECC), a men’s state prison in Charleston, Missouri, has tested positive for COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus. This notification marks the first MODOC offender to test positive for COVID-19 while inside a Missouri state prison. The offender has been held […]
St. Joseph city officials in northwest Missouri report the first death in Buchanan County from complications brought on by COVID-19; the former St. Joseph state prisoner transferred to Kansas City. The Missouri Department of Corrections made the announcement. City officials say the prisoner was transferred to St. Joseph for an unrelated illness that required isolation, […]
An Arizona man has pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in Taney County, Missouri. Darcell M. Mills, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Friday, March 13, to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. On Jan. 14, 2019, law enforcement received information that Mills had […]
A Republic, Missouri, truck driver pleaded guilty in federal court to transporting two Missouri teenagers across state lines and sexually assaulting them. Cleveland Lee Crumsey, 37, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity. By pleading guilty, […]
Among several cases on Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Division One of Grundy County Circuit Court, prison sentences were hand down and several people were placed on probation. Probation was revoked for Spickard resident Linda Sue Wilcox after she admitted to violations. The court set aside a previous “stay” on execution and ordered her to […]
The Missouri Department of Corrections today sent out this information indicating that visiting has been suspended at all correctional centers in the state of Missouri. Dear Family and Friends: Health officials are working hard to contain the spread of the COVID-19 (commonly known as “coronavirus”) in the United States. While no cases have been diagnosed […]
