Testimony begins in trial of Van Buren man accused of killing Missouri Highway Patrol officer

WEST PLAINS, Mo. — A Carter County jury heard testimony Monday afternoon surrounding a November 2004 fatal crash prosecutors believe was the motive for a Van Buren, Mo., man to gun down a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in his driveway.

In his opening argument, assistant attorney general Kevin Zoellner said Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. was ambushed in his driveway March 20, 2005, after completing his shift for the day.

Graham was shot in the back with a high-powered rifle and suffered a skull fracture when he fell backward from the imapct. The bullet severed his spine, Zoellner said.

"A coward shot him in the back," Zoellner said, then with a shotgun pumped two shots into his head, peppering Graham's face with shotgun pellets.

"His name is Lance Shockley and he's sitting here," Zoellner said, pointing to Shockley, who wore a blue dress shirt and brown slacks, seated between his defense team.

Shockley, 32, is standing trial on the Class A felony of first-degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action in connection with Graham's death and the Class D felony of leaving the scene of an accident. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Zoellner said Shockley's motive for killing Graham was a Nov. 26, 2004, fatal crash that left Jeffrey R. Bayless dead and in which Shockley allegedly fled the scene. Graham was the investigating officer.

As he outlined the state's case, Zoellner told the 15 jurors — eight men and seven women — that evidence would show Shockley borrowed his grandmother's red Pontiac Grand Am, which was seen near Graham's Route M residence on the day of the killing, and about his ownership of a .243-caliber rifle.

According to the prosecution, ballistic tests indicate the bullet retrieved from Graham's body may have been fired by a .243-caliber rifle.

In her opening statement, Shockley's attorney, Molly Henshaw with the Capital Public Defender's Office, said the state had it "all wrong" from the alleged motive to the actual murder.

The state, she said, was attempting to prove its case at all costs.

"They focused on the wrong man," she said.

Henshaw said there was no eyewitness, weapon, DNA, ballistic evidence or physical evidence to tie Shockley to Graham's death.

Shockley, she said, "admits to being the driver and being responsible for the accident that killed his best friend and to once owning a lever-action, .243-caliber rifle."

The state, Henshaw said, wants the jury to believe Shockley's owning a .243-caliber rifle proves he killed Graham.

The fact Shockley no longer owns the gun "proves he couldn't have committed this crime," Henshaw said.

Among the state's witnesses were Paul and Ivy Napier, both of whom testified Shockley came to their County Road 217 residence the night of the fatal crash, asking for help.

Paul Napier said he went back to the crash scene with Shockley, while his wife said she called authorities.

"He had told us he had been in a wreck," said Ivy Napier, who described Shockley having blood on his hands.

During Graham's initial investigation, Ivy Napier said, she didn't report that Shockley had been involved in the crash. She reported that to Graham March 19, 2005. Her husband also was re-interviewed that same day.

Cynthia Chilton, Bayless' fiancee and Shockley's sister-in-law, also knew Shockley was the driver, but didn't not report that fact to authorities. Graham, she said, was attempting to contact her about the crash at the time of his death.