A Spickard man is being held in the Mercer County Jail after being arrested and charged with second degree murder.
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A Spickard man is being held in the Mercer County Jail after being arrested and charged with second degree murder.
Randall Dale Kitchen, 40, who listed his address as Spickard, is charged with second degree murder and armed criminal action and is being held in the Mercer County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash-only bond. Kitchen was arrested after an investigation led to the discovery of a body on a Grundy County farm.
The investigation began when Grundy County Deputy Eric McAllister received a call at approximately 11 p.m., Tuesday, in which a witness said he saw Kitchen shoot and kill Matt Crump. The caller was unsure of the exact location of the shooting or what county it was in. It was later determined that the shooting had occurred in Mercer County.
At that point, officers from the Mercer County Sheriff?s Department, Grundy County Sheriff?s Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol went to a residence in Mercer County and found evidence that led them to believe a shooting had occurred. While the one individual who was at the residence did not appear to have been involved in the shooting, Kitchen had left the residence. He was later discovered at a second residence, located on Northeast 80th Avenue in Grundy County, and was arrested in connection with the shooting.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the second residence, which is owned by Victor Briegel and occupied by David Briegel, where two vehicles and several guns were seized. The investigation led officers to believe that the victim?s body might be located on the Grundy County property and, while waiting for officers to arrive and search the farm, Grundy County Sheriff Greg Coon drove down a field road, where he discovered remains of a body in a brush pile. The body had been burnt.
Positive identification of the remains has not yet been determined, and the body has been moved to the Jackson County Coroner?s Office, where efforts are being made to make an identification. It is presumed the body is that of Matt Crump.
According to Mercer County Sheriff Duane Hobbs, Kitchen has claimed self-defense as a motive in the killing, saying that the assumed victim, Crump, caused him to fear for his life and that of two other persons at the scene, when he threatened them with a double-bitted ax.
Charges were filed against three men for abandonment of a corpse. Those arrested include David Briegel, a 48-year-old resident of Spickard; Frederick Farwell, 39, and Donald J. Loomis, 44, both of Kansas City. Briegel has posted $15,000 bond, while Farwell and Loomis remain in the Grundy County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bond.