Author: KMIZ

Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Callaway County man has made an Alford plea to reduced charges in a 2017 Cole County homicide.

Zacchaeus D. Silva pleaded guilty earlier this month to accessory to second-degree assault in the beating death of Jerry Robertson on April 20, 2017, court records show. Silva had been indicted with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, armed criminal action, evidence tampering and witness tampering charges.

An Alford plea is one in which a defendant does not explicitly admit guilt, but acknowledges the state has the evidence to obtain a conviction.

Sentencing is set for July 13 before Judge Daniel Green.

A co-defendant, Robert Thrasher, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2022.

Thrasher is incarcerated at Moberly Correctional Center.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR’S NOTE: An erroneous reference to a 120-day jail sentence has been removed.

A Boonville woman who pleaded guilty last month to embezzling from a Cooper County nonprofit was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail.

Judge Jeff Mittelhauser sentenced Jennifer Waibel last week to 30 days in jail and five years of probation after she pleaded guilty to a single count of felony theft. Waibel has a case still pending in Boone County, with a June 1 hearing scheduled. She is charged with three felonies in the Boone County case.

Waibel was accused in Cooper County of stealing $49,661.36 from Unlimited Opportunities by spending the money in several transactions from June 16 to Aug. 31, 2023, which included several multi-thousand-dollar purchases at Walmart locations in Boonville, Columbia and Madison, Georgia.

In the Boone County case, she’s accused of spending $13,650 on gift cards while using 10 company credit cards from Impact Support Services, located on Chapel Hill Road in Columbia.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to put a 3/8-cent sales tax on the November ballot.

Sheriff Dwayne Carey appeared before the commission last week to make his pitch for the tax. The commission was initially considering it for the August ballot, but moved it to November at Carey’s urging after the City of Columbia put a 1-cent sales tax for public safety on the August ballot.

“Over the long weekend, I felt like we needed more time to educate voters and make sure that we were getting correct information out there versus it being incorrect and so the extra two months going to November will help us do that,” Carey said.

The primary purpose of the Boone County tax is to pay for a new jail. Boone County Auditor Kyle Rieman estimated that, based on current 1/8-cent collections from the Prop L tax in 2025, the tax increase would start in 2027 and generate at least $17 million annually.

“We have Prop L already, which supports not only the sheriff’s office, about 70%, but it supports the prosecutor’s office, It already supports the alternatives to incarceration and court services,” Carey said. “It’s just a good fit versus a property tax or something else.”

The commission also planned to use the extra time to review current prevention resources and to strategize the budget if jail construction begins.

“Assisted outpatient treatment, that’s one of the tools that we need to be looking at to say, ‘how do we put somebody back into the community to keep that person stable, to keep that person safe and not have detained in our jail?'” District II Commissioner Janet Thompson said. “It’s tools like utilizing the work that’s being done across the state to say, ‘do we have sufficient housing?'”

“We certainly have work to do,” Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick said. “The sheriff and his team to try to figure out how we’re going to manage this budget over the next several years, how we’re going to be able to anticipate if this number continues to increase and what we can do from our end.”

According to prior reporting, it cost over $2.5 million in 2025 to house inmates. It cost around $499,000 for housing in 2022.

Boone County is paying to house about 180 inmates outside of the county. According to prior reporting, the cost to house out-of-county detainees from January to March this year was around $1.12 million.

The new jail plans to have around 570 beds. It will also have accommodations for inmates certified by the Department of Mental Health and juvenile inmates, which the current jail does not have. If approved this November, Carey expects the jail to be built within 4-5 years.

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Steven Lambson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Several Columbia police officers responded to the Woodstock Mobile Home Park on New Haven Road on Monday.

An ABC 17 News crew saw at least five Columbia Police Department patrol cars at the scene shortly before 8 p.m. The Columbia Fire Department confirmed several of its crews responded to the same scene but deferred to CPD for details on what happened.

A police sergeant at the scene confirmed someone fired at least one gunshot during what he described as a dispute between neighbors. No injuries were reported, and one person has been detained.

This is a developing story, we will update you as more information becomes available.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boonville man was charged on Friday with a pair of felonies after authorities claim he broke into a building by crawling through a hole that housed an office air conditioning unit.

Joshua Allen Kautzman was charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle. A warrant was issued and a $25,000 bond was set. He is not listed on the Cooper County Jail’s roster, but court documents say he was detained in Illinois.

The probable cause statement says an employee of a business – whose identity was redacted, but court documents say is located in the 1400 block of West Ashley Road — reported a white Chevrolet 1500 was stolen when they arrived to work on Thursday, May 21.

The statement says the employee found an air conditioning unit on the floor of the main office. They reviewed video and saw the unit fell around 9:25 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, court documents allege. Kautzman was allegedly seen crawling through the hole into the business at 5:37 a.m.

The Chevrolet was found at 7:24 a.m. Friday in Benton, Illinois, the statement says. Kautzman allegedly admitted to pushing in the air conditioning unit, entering the business, taking keys and stealing the vehicle, court documents say.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hundreds of parade-goers on Monday packed East Broadway in downtown Columbia for the Gold Star Memorial Day Parade.

Parade founder Sherry Wyatt marked the second year since the event’s return after a six-year hiatus, honoring fallen service members on Memorial Day.

“This is extremely important to us because the greatest sacrifice that any of us can give, of course, is our lives for the people who love and we care for, defending the freedom of our country,” Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 280 and parade member Charlie Brown said. “The families that are affected by that, our Gold Star families, are worthy of the highest honors that we can give.”

The Gold Star title honors the immediate family members who have experienced losing an active-duty military service member.

“To have all of these people to support us and to love on us, it’s been wonderful,” Gold Star family member Rhonda Fingar said.

Rhonda and David Fingar were in the parade honoring their son and U.S. Army Specialist Jason Fingar. Jason Fingar enlisted in 2008 and served in Afghanistan before being killed in action on May 22, 2010, after his military vehicle hit an IED.

“Jason was the first person in the convoy,” Rhonda Fingar said. “Even though he passed, he saved all those people that were behind him.”

“He was the moral compass,” David Fingar said. “He didn’t want to have that attention of, ‘he’s someone important.'”

The parade was also organized with the USTF Veterans Foundation and featured chapters for the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, American Legion Riders, and Mid-Missouri Vietnam Vets and the Nurses Honor Guard of Mid-Missouri, among other groups.

“My son went to Afghanistan and he also came home, so we have a lot to be thankful for and I definitely like to honor those who didn’t make it back,” Parade-attendee Sarah Brilhante said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A partial mistrial was declared on Friday in a Boone County child molestation case involving an Iowa man.

Fred L. Fox, 56 of Humeston, Iowa, was originally charged with two counts of child molestation, one count of child enticement and sexual misconduct involving a child younger than 15 years old. He is being held at the Boone County Jail.

Court filings show the jury on Friday found Fox not guilty of the child molestation counts, but could not come to a verdict for the other two charges.

Previous reporting indicates Fox was accused of abusing a child during a two-year period in Iowa and Missouri. Court documents in previous reporting say a parent of the victim or victims told investigators that Fox had been visiting and stayed for anywhere from three to 14 days at a time.

The court declared a mistrial on the child enticement and sexual misconduct charges on Friday. Fox was granted a reduced bond of $25,000.

A status hearing in the case is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 22.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A restaurant near the Lake of the Ozarks caught fire on Monday morning, according to a social media post from the Mid-County Fire Protection District.

The post says crews were called at 2:51 a.m. Monday to Pebble Bay Club Restaurant off of Good Neighbors Road, west of Camdenton. About 25% of the building was seen on fire when crews arrived, the post says.

The fire was brought under control after about 45 minutes of crews arriving, the statement says. The state fire marshal is investigating the cause and origin.

No injuries were reported.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The United States Exercise Tiger Foundation will honor six U.S. Army soldiers from an Iowa unit who died during the Iran conflict in March at a Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony Monday morning in Columbia.

“No matter what anybody may think of what we’re doing or why we’re doing it. We honor the sacrifice the men and women who are somebodies fathers, sons, daughters who are lost. Those six from Iowa are the closest that we know of today, and so we’re honoring them and the others as well,” Walter Domanski, a USETF public affairs deputy director, said.

The Iran conflict started at the end of February, and negotiations to end the conflict have been ongoing.

The wreath ceremony will also honor Columbia’s own Sterling Wyatt, who was killed in Afghanistan, Domanski said.

Wyatt’s mom, Sherry Wyatt, brought back the Gold Star Memorial Parade last year after a six year hiatus, according to the parade website.

“When a family loses a family member while in service to our country, the family becomes a Gold Star family. Thus, the reason for changing the name of the parade to the Gold Star Memorial Day Parade is to recognize the sacrifice of our loved ones’ deaths and to remember, honor and recognize them for their service to our great country,” Sherry Wyatt wrote.

The day will start with the Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at 9 a.m. at the Boone County Courthouse. The ceremony is expected to last about 40 minutes, with local veterans’ organizations presenting wreaths and music from the Columbia Community Band, the Boone County Fire Protection District Pipes and Drums, and the American Legion Post 202 Honor Guard will do the military fire arms salute.

The parade will follow that ceremony, starting around 10 a.m., and it will step off on East Broadway Street, with VIP seating in between North Eighth and Ninth Streets.

Parade map courtesy of the CoMo Gold Star Parade.

The Gold Star Wreath Laying Ceremony will follow the parade and is estimated to start around 11:15 a.m. back at the Boone County Courthouse. This ceremony will be for gold star families.

The title “Gold Star” is reserved for families of military members who died in the line of duty. It is meant to honor the service member’s ultimate sacrifice while acknowledging their family’s loss, grief and continued healing.

A flag ceremony and the 21 gun salute will follow.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Fulton man was charged on Friday with multiple counts related to child sex crimes.

According to a Facebook post from the Callaway County Sheriff’s Office, Phillip Likes, 29, was arrested Friday in connection with an alleged sexual assault involving a juvenile that was reported in early March.

Likes was charged with two counts of statutory rape of a victim younger than 14 years old, one count of statutory sodomy of a victim younger than 14 years old, one count of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15 years old and one count first-degree child molestation.

He is being held in the Callaway County Jail without bond, according to the post.

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