Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Ronald R. Holliday announced Friday that no criminal charges will be filed in the fatal officer-involved shooting death of Christopher L. Kelly last year.
As previously reported, the shooting occurred on December 29, 2018, at 1007 S. 12th Street in St. Joseph. The St. Joseph Police Department officers involved in the fatal shooting were Officers Brett Sagel and Matthew Kneib.
According to a press release from the Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Special Division of Drug and Crime Control, conducted the investigation at the request of the St. Joseph Police Department.
The investigation disclosed that the officers went to the residence initially to attempt to locate an individual in reference to an outstanding warrant. The officers went to the front door of the residence, knocked, and received no response. An officer went to the rear of the residence and located a white Hyundai Sonata vehicle that had been reported stolen out of Pleasant Valley, Missouri. A neighbor told police the vehicle in the rear of the residence was not a vehicle normally seen at the residence. Officers at the scene observed in plain view holsters, ammunition, and masks inside the stolen Hyundai. The rear of the residence was unsecured and the officers entered the residence through the back door to check the welfare of the residents. The officers loudly announced their presence and advised any occupants of the residence to identify their location but received no response.
The press release goes on to say that as the officers systematically searched the residence, they entered a bedroom in the northwest corner of the residence. They observed Kelly standing in the closet of the bedroom. At the same time the officers observed a second person in the closet who immediately surrendered to the officers. Additional officers then entered the northwest bedroom. Kelly was instructed to show his hands to the officers but he verbally refused. The officers then observed a firearm in his right hand. He was told to drop the weapon and refused. A taser was then deployed striking Kelly. However, the Taser had no effect on him. He then raised the pistol and pointed it at the officers and both officers then discharged their firearms at Kelly, striking him multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Phoenix Arms Model HP22A, .22 caliber pistol, loaded with 6 live rounds, was recovered from the possession of Kelly. A toxicology screen during his autopsy revealed Methamphetamine and Amphetamine in his blood.
The press release concludes: “A law enforcement officer is allowed to use deadly force if that officer has a reasonable belief that the use of such force is necessary to protect himself or another from serious physical injury or death… the use of deadly force by both officers in this case was permissible and not unreasonable and as a result, will not be the basis for any criminal charge allegations.”
A Princeton, Missouri, man was seriously injured in a crash between a tractor and a tractor-trailer Friday morning in Mercer county.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, shortly after 10 a.m., the tractor and the tractor-trailer were both southbound on US 65 about four miles north of Princeton. The tractor, driven by 44-year-old Gilbert E. Lawson, was turning left onto a private drive. The tractor-trailer, driven by 44-year-old Timothy D. Spickard of Trenton, was attempting to pass the tractor when it hit the tractor in the northbound lane, causing Lawson to be ejected. The tractor-trailer continued on US 65, went off the east side of the road, overturning onto the driver’s side.
Lawson was transported to Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton for treatment of serious injuries. No injuries were reported for the driver of the tractor-trailer.
IBERIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri woman has been charged in the poisoning death of her husband whose body was found after an arson fire at the couple’s home.
Amy Murray -photo Miller Co. Sheriff
Miller County authorities announced Friday that 40-year-old Amy Murray, of Iberia, has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of her husband, Joshua Murray. No attorney is listed for her in online court records. Bond is set at $750,000.
His body was found after the fire on Dec. 11. The State Fire Marshall’s Office and the Miller County Sheriff’s Department determined that an accelerant was used to start the fire in the master bedroom. An autopsy determined that he died of poisoning before the blaze.
TOPEKA — The Kansas House of Representatives discussed the removal of an amendment to House Bill 2079 on Wednesday, which currently states that spouses are exempt from being charged with sexual battery in the state of Kansas.
Rep. Brett Parker-courtesy photo
The amendment is sponsored by Rep. Brett Parker (D-29th), who expressed a need for explanation on the difference between sexual battery and rape as well as highlighting the difficulties within the legal community when it comes to defining consent. It comes at a time when there are more and more victims of sexual assault that are deciding to take justice into their own hands and tell their stories via movements like #MeToo and Time’s Up.
Sexual battery, which is defined in the bill as “the touching of a victim who is 16 or more years of age and who does not consent thereto,” is not the same as rape or sexual assault, nor is it the same as aggravated battery, the latter of which is defined in the bill as sexual battery in which the victim is overcome by force or fear, or is physically powerless.
In fact, the relationship between victim and abuser is irrelevant in just about every offense except for sex crimes. It is important to note that the spousal exemption for the statute of rape was removed from legislation in 1975, but remains in place for sexual battery. This “outdated and unnecessary language,” as Parker described it, needs to be removed because he believes that “marriage should not absolve offenders of guilt nor deprive victims of justice.” The bill is widely supported by members of the House, however there were a few requests for clarification in regards to more ambiguous situations and a concern that a spouse may invent an accusation to seek revenge when they are angry at their significant other. Research shows, however, that false accusations of assault are extremely rare. According to the National Sexual Violence Research Center, between two and 10 percent of sexual crimes are falsely reported.
Michelle McCormick, program director for the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment in Topeka, which provides services and support for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, stated in her written testimony that one in three women have experienced sexual violence by a partner. She wrote that she was “stunned” to learn that the current law doesn’t protect married individuals from sexually abusive spouses and believes that keeping the law the way it is only reinforces “a deeply flawed and antiquated cultural norm indicating that consent is implied by the act of marriage, and that spouses do not retain agency over their own bodies.”
Rep. Kellie Warren (R-28th), was the first to question the legal definition of consent, and was curious as to how other states have handled this situation. Although marital rape is illegal in all 50 states, the laws become hazier when it comes to sexual battery. Sara Rust-Martin, legal and policy director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence in Topeka, mentioned affirmative consent, which is defined as explicit, informed and voluntary agreement in regards to a sexual act. This is the most widely accepted and most valid form of consent, however it is not a term widely known by the general population.
Rep. Dennis “Boog” Highberger (D-46th) asked about situations involving sexual battery between unmarried people who have been living together for an extended period of time. Parker and Rust-Martin agreed that this situation is no different than that for married couples. The main objective of this amendment, according to Parker, was to clarify that being married does not mean that a person can take advantage of their spouse and get away with it simply under the pretense that they’re husband and wife.
The amendment will be discussed further in the coming week as representatives confer over remaining technicalities including the definition of consent.
Marissa Ventrelli is a University of Kansas senior from Chicago majoring in journalism.
JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent attack on a family member.
Christopher Wlson photo Jackson Co.
On Wednesday evening, police were called to a residence on Gregory Lane in Raytown, according to court records reported in a media release from police.
Callers had informed police dispatch that 29-year-old Christopher J. Wilson had stabbed his father with a sword.
The first officer on scene encountered a man leaving the residence. He had a knife in his hand. The officer also observed a sword on the front porch.
A woman inside yelled, “He stabbed him.” Police took Wilson into custody, and an older man was found in the kitchen on the floor in a pool of blood. Responding officers provided immediate care to the victim and applied tourniquets to try to stop the bleeding.
The victim told police that his son pushed him to the floor and stabbed him. The victim’s wife also described the attack.
Responding officers provided immediate care to the victim and applied tourniquets to try to stop the bleeding.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Thursday that Wilson faces Assault 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action charges, according to the release. He remains jailed on a $50,000 bond.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — With final puffs of steamy breath coming from its slightly tusked snout, the second boar collapsed at the edge of the trap, right next to the other.
Feral hogs. Photo courtesy MDC
Two fewer targets in Missouri’s fight against invasive feral hogs.
Felled by well-placed gunshots, together the two formed a hairy black heap of perhaps 400 pounds or more — animals that, before meeting their demise, were destructive outsiders among the surrounding patches of farmland and thick Ozark forests.
But the scene that unfolded recently on Jerry Richards’ farm in remote Washington County, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis, represents an all-too-elusive payout for the property owners and government officials working to contain the introduced species.
In recent years, feral hogs have been a growing problem in Missouri — causing damage to property and farms, competing with native species, and harboring diseases that could threaten domesticated pigs. But the on-the-ground fight to control them is an unforgiving scramble against their smarts, their prolific ability to multiply, and the people who introduce them to the state.
It’s hard enough to simply keep the population at bay, let alone dent it, explains Tom Meister, a wildlife damage biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation and the lead coordinator of hog control efforts across an 18-county area that includes the St. Louis region.
Female hogs, or sows, can have three litters per year and start breeding at just 6 months old. “Studies show that you need to kill 80 percent of them just to maintain the population,” Meister said.
He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he believes the hog population in Missouri is higher than ever, with the species largely found south of Interstate 44 and especially prevalent in southeast Missouri. And even though the MDC reports that more than 9,300 feral hogs were killed in the state last year — a more than 40 percent jump from the 6,500 killed in 2017 — it’s difficult to gauge whether control efforts are working to reverse the tide.
“I’d like to think there’s a significant impact, but there’s no way to tell for sure,” Meister said.
The fight is spearheaded by individual landowners who partner with MDC officials and partner agencies, such as a team of about 20 hog-trapping specialists who work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“They’ve got trappers that are ganging up on these counties and these hot spots,” said Meister, discussing the USDA’s involvement.
“These feral hogs have so many nasty diseases,” he added, rattling off brucellosis, pseudorabies and trichinosis as examples commonly carried by feral swine. “If they got to the domestic livestock, it’d be huge. And they don’t want that to happen, so that’s why they got involved.”
Although feral hogs are a nuisance throughout the southern U.S., that’s not where Missouri’s population is coming from, Meister said.
“They’re definitely not migrating,” he said. “They’re either escapees or purposely released.”
Therein lies one of the biggest complications in the battle to control the species: the simultaneous, and perhaps harder-to-wage fight against individuals from whom the problem originates.
Meister explains that some people have deliberately released hogs “to sell hunts,” while other animals have escaped from private game farms.
He even recalls seeing billboards along I-44 in recent years advertising hog hunts. But even though escapees are likely at the root of the state’s feral hog problem, there’s little that officials can do to prevent that kind of behavior, Meister said.
“Basically, you can do what you want on your own private land,” he said.
Where officials like Meister and MDC’s “feral hog strike team” can make strides is through trapping — not hunting — sounders, or groups, of the hogs.
The distinction is key.
“If you kill one or two, then that may break the sounder up, and then you’ve got two groups,” said Jeromy Boze, an MDC wildlife crew leader and strike team member, explaining why the agency doesn’t want to allow or encourage hunting.
Trapping, though, faces its own challenges. Fail to catch a whole group, and even a couple loose hogs can mean a continued problem — plus they’re smart enough to learn from the experience.
“You’re hoping to catch the whole sounder. Because they breed like rabbits,” Boze said. “If you have one escape a trap, I’m not sure you’d ever get them in the same style trap again.”
Drop traps — circular units of metal fencing that, when triggered, fall and surround bait-eating hogs from above — represent the latest method of choice at the MDC.
“The thinking goes that the hogs don’t see them because they don’t have any overhead predators,” Meister said. “They’ll be looking at the corn (spread on the ground, as bait), not at the trap.”
Other traps can be used, such as on-the-ground corral traps with gates that drop like a guillotine.
On a recent January day, Meister, Boze and a crew of MDC employees set up traps on the property of private landowners affected by hog damage — often in the form of massive divots made by hogs as they root through the ground.
One trap went to Richards, a teacher who farms and raises cattle on 515 acres almost entirely surrounded by the Mark Twain National Forest. With few people and roads around, Meister said it’s the type of area hogs like, and Richards’ land has patches of fresh hog damage to prove it.
“I discovered that I had a problem in mid-December,” said Richards. “I knew the problem was coming up this direction. … It was just one of those things that hadn’t hit me.”
While hog damage can take a toll on pasture land, Richards worries that it could prove costly if it hurts his hay equipment in warmer months.
“It’s like if someone left mounds of dirt in your yard and you’re trying to go through with your mower,” Richards said. “Then you get big rocks where you’re trying to get your cutters through.”
The trap on Richards’ land was set up next to a spot of new, intense damage. On one side near the center of the trap, generous amounts of cracked corn were poured on the ground as bait. Table scraps and even the remains of other hogs can also be used to lure them in. Less bait was sprinkled on the trigger side of the trap, in the hope that an entire sounder would be gorging themselves by the time one of its members bumped the trigger on the less desirable side of the buffet.
Not far away, another trap was set up on Bob Scanlon’s land, where deep ruts from hogs prevented a large chunk of field from being used for hay production.
“We only hayed maybe a third of it this year,” said Scanlon, estimating that the loss on that field alone cost him about 40 bales — a total he said, at around $50 each, would amount to a couple thousand dollars.
Patience is key to catching hogs — even in places like Richards’ farm that appear to be “hot” with activity. The wait can pay off handsomely, at times.
Meister said they’ve caught individual hogs weighing up to 500 pounds. And one time, 24 hogs were caught in a single trap.
“He had so many, they ran out of ammo,” said Meister, adding that the landowner needed to go borrow ammunition from the neighbors.
On certain occasions, hog control is a job for marksmen in a helicopter. Those aerial hog hunts are carried out in the winter — when there are no leaves on the trees, nor hunters out for deer season.
“We will only do that if we know there’s a bunch,” Meister said.
What happens to the wild hogs after they are captured is up to the landowners. Though there may be interest in eating them, their lack of fat means it’s not always the tasty pork-like delicacy that many may envision — especially with bigger, older hogs that get tougher with age.
Though he has eaten plenty of it since, Meister recounts the rude introduction he received to feral hog meat.
“I’m serious, I had to throw the frying pan away,” he said. “It was this dry, nasty, gamey meat.”
But the state can’t eat its way to eradication, especially with control efforts undermined by the promotion of commercial hog hunting.
Meister said the desire to hunt them might have been stoked by television.
“For a while, these hog-hunting shows were really popular,” said Meister, who thinks they succeeded in “glamorizing it and making it look like it was the coolest thing.”
Instead, he said, hog hunting has a strong, negative effect on the outdoors — not just for property owners, but for popular game species such as deer and turkeys.
“The impact that they have on the other wildlife is so detrimental,” Meister said. Although hogs primarily eat acorns, they’re opportunists that will consume just about anything. “They’re eating fawns, they’re eating turkey eggs. Anything on the ground, they’re eating it.”
Meister sees improvement in getting the public to buy into the MDC’s strategy of targeting hogs through trapping instead of hunting. While it can seem counterintuitive to some, Meister said sentiment is “coming around” and getting better each year.
Back on Richards’ farm recently, the two boars were loaded onto the bed of a pickup, destined for a local resident who wanted the meat.
Catching two grown males together is unusual, said Greg Turnbough, a member of the MDC strike team who lives nearby and responded to the scene.
“I think this cold snap has just got them out looking for food,” he said.
After a few weeks of waiting, Richards was glad to finally have something to show for the trap.
“I was hoping to get something, because, my God, they tear a lot of stuff up,” he said.
More could be on the way. The trap was reset, with new corn and some pelleted cattle feed joining the bloodstains inside of it — another ingredient that could coax hogs in.
“They’ll eat each other,” said James Grimm, another strike team member. “A little blood might make them want to come back.”
A “Night at the Museum” this weekend will focus on reconnecting children with nature.
The Remington Nature Center will be holding the Night at the Museum event Friday evening. It will feature nature themed crafts and the Nature Center will be open for touring from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.
Shelly Cox with the Remington Nature Center says there will be a presentation at 6:30 p.m. called “Reconnecting Our Children with Nature.”
The presenter is graduate student Tracy Dotson who has a bachelor’s degree from MWSU in Health and Communications and an Associate’s degree from MWSU in Health Information Technologies. She is currently a graduate student with Grand Canyon University, majoring in secondary education. The presentation is recommended for educators, scout leaders, and parents, but children are welcome to attend.
The Remington Nature Center is located at 1502 McArthur Drive in St. Joseph. Regular admission prices apply.
For more information, contact Nature Center Manager, Andrea McCoy at (816) 676-3204 or click here.
High pressure will settle over the region today resulting in clear skies and generally light winds. Temperatures will remain on the cool side with readings starting out in the single digits this morning and climbing into the 20s by this afternoon. A brief warming trend can be expected through Saturday, but winter returns Sunday into Monday in the form of a wintry mix. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 19. Wind chill values between -2 and -12. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph.
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 9. Wind chill values between -2 and 3. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the evening.
Saturday: Increasing clouds, with a high near 31. Wind chill values between -6 and 4. Southeast wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Saturday Night: A chance of snow after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Sunday: A chance of snow, mixing with freezing rain after 8 a.m., then gradually ending. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Southeast wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.
Monday: A chance of freezing rain between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., then a chance of rain after 3 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Monday Night: Rain, mainly between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. Low around 25. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 34.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 14.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 31.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 18.
Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly named former Republican Rep. Melissa Rooker on Thursday to help lead one of her signature initiatives.
Former state Rep. Melissa Rooker FILE PHOTO / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
Kelly chose Rooker to head the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, a 15-member group created in the late 1990s to guide state investments in early childhood programs.
Rooker, a moderate Republican, represented a Johnson County district in the Kansas House for six years before narrowly losing last year to Democrat Rui Xu. While in the Legislature, Rooker played a leadership role on education issues.
“I worked closely with Rep. Rooker for many years and know her to be a steadfast advocate for Kansas children and families,” Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly has said that expanding and improving programs that help prepare children to succeed is one of her top priorities as governor.
As the paid executive director of the Children’s Cabinet, Rooker will play a key role in helping the governor implement her vision.
“I have always focused my policy work on children’s issues,” she said. “So, for me … this could not be a more perfect fit.”
The cabinet advises the governor and Legislature on how to spend approximately $50 million in annual dedicated funding for early childhood programs. It also works with researchers at the University of Kansas to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs it funds.
Kelly also appointed Kim Moore to chair the Cabinet and the Children’s Trust Fund. Moore retired last year after 30 years as president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.
“I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact that high-quality early intervention and support can have on children and families across the state of Kansas,” Moore said. “I look forward to (making) sure all children in Kansas are safe, healthy and have the opportunity to succeed.”
In a related development, Senate President Susan Wagle on Wednesday reinstated Sen. Dinah Sykes to the cabinet after removing her in December for switching parties.
Sykes, a former moderate Republican who became a Democrat just before the start of the 2019 legislative session, had challenged her removal from the cabinet. She argued that Wagle didn’t have the authority to replace her before the end of her term.
Research done by legislative staff proved her correct.
Skyes said she’s excited to again be working with Rooker.
“Her passion is Kansas kids and I think she’ll do an incredible job,” Sykes said.
Rooker succeeds Janice Suzanne Smith, who resigned in December.
