COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri private investigator who told authorities he fatally a shot a man two years ago in self-defense has been sentenced to two years in federal prison on a firearms charge but won’t be charged with murder.
54-year-old Ricky Gurley was sentenced Tuesday for being a felon in possession of the gun he used to shoot Cameron Caruthers at Gurley’s home in Columbia. Federal prosecutors said Gurley was barred from possessing the weapon because of a 1997 conviction for felonious restraint and being an unlicensed bail runner in Martin County, North Carolina.
After the sentencing, the Boone County prosecutor announced that Gurley wouldn’t be charged in Caruthers’ death. A wrongful death lawsuit is pending against Gurley and his business, Risk Management Investigations.