NEWS

Detective describes scene at Ozark mobile home where 4 were found dead

Giacomo Bologna
GBOLOGNA@NEWS-LEADER.COM
Brian D. Williams

The case of a Sparta man accused of killing four people — including an unborn child — in an Ozark mobile home in February will move toward trial, a judge decided after a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.

Prosecutors say Brian D. Williams, 26, stole a pickup truck in the early morning of Feb. 20 and drove to the mobile home where he shot James Marsh, 27, his pregnant girlfriend, Casey Maples, 26, and the owner of the mobile home, Christina Winden, 40.

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The owner of the stolen white 2008 Chevrolet truck testified at the preliminary hearing. He said when he woke up in the early morning Feb. 20, his truck was gone from his driveway — he'd left it unlocked, with the keys and a semi-automatic 9-millimeter pistol inside.

That afternoon, three bodies were discovered by Winden's boyfriend, who had just returned home from work, Marsh's mother told the News-Leader in February.

Sgt. Dan Nash of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was on his way to dinner when he was called to the scene. In the courtroom, Nash said when he entered the mobile home there was a large dog in a cage in the kitchen, as well as dogs that had been locked in the bathroom by responding officers.

Nash said he found two 9-millimeter shell casings in the room where the bodies of Maples and Marsh still lay in bed.

Nash said the stolen truck was found near Sparta, and damage indicates a fire was started inside in an attempt to burn the vehicle. Nash said Williams was picked up near Oldfield on drug charges. Nash said he would eventually interview Williams three times.

Nash said Williams admitted to driving the stolen truck to Winden's mobile home where he sat in the truck for moment to think. Williams knocked at the door, Nash said, before he kicked it down when no one answered. Nash said the door was not hard to kick down because police had previously kicked it down prior to arresting Williams on drug charges.

A Christian County deputy would testify after Nash, saying that last year Williams had lived in a camper owned by Winden and located near her mobile home.

According to Nash, Williams admitted he killed Marsh, Maples and Winden, and was surprised at his own cool reaction when the gun initially didn’t fire. Nash said Williams believed he was fated to kill them.

Nash said Williams told him he yelled that Maples and Marsh, who were in bed together, should not move. Nash said Williams pulled the trigger but the gun didn’t fire because he hadn’t charged it properly. He charged the gun, then fired multiple shots. According to Nash, Williams said he then kicked down the door of Winden's room, shot her once in the head and it was clear she died.

Nash said Williams told him that he then went back to the first bedroom where Marsh appeared to still be alive, gurgling, and shot him again.

According to Nash, Williams said he wore a headlamp during the alleged murders so that he would have his hands free in case he encountered resistance.

Williams allegedly said during the final interview that he knew Maples was pregnant. Nash also said that while a jailer told Nash that Williams had expressed remorse about killing a pregnant woman, Williams denied feeling any remorse when he spoke with Nash.

Williams would later lead officials to a field where a 9-millimeter handgun was found, according to testimony from a detective from the sheriff’s department.

Maples was seven weeks pregnant, according to forensic pathologist Keith Norton, who conducted the autopsy and gave testimony Thursday. Maples was shot three times, and powder burns were found by two of the gunshot wounds — one was at the right side of her neck; one was by her collarbone — meaning those shots likely were fired within 18 inches of her, Norton said.

The third shot, which killed her, was to the back of the head, causing "tremendous damage to the brain."

Norton said the bullets used had hollow points, which are meant to fragment within their target rather than pass through it. Norton said they cause more damage than regular bullets.

Missouri law allows for murder charges in the killing of "an 'unborn child' at any stage of pre-natal development."

Williams' attorney Morris Mettler argued that the death of the unborn should not be treated as a homicide because state law contradicts federal law on whether the fetus is considered a person.

The News-Leader previously reported that Marsh’s mother said Marsh and Williams had once been best friends.

Williams, who has brown shoulder length hair and a goatee, did not speak during the preliminary hearing, although he appeared to briefly confer with Mettler at one point.