Police investigating homicide in Carter County

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- An autopsy is being done today on a Carter County man, who was apparently shot to death by his longtime, live-in girlfriend.

The victim, whose name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin, died Tuesday morning inside his residence on County Road 321, off of Highway H, between Van Buren and Ellsinore, according to a spokesman for the Carter County Sheriff's Department.

The name of the 51-year-old woman, who authorities believe killed him, also is being withheld at this time as officers apply for a warrant.

She reportedly was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and armed criminal action and is being held in the Carter County Jail.

"We got the call at 11:12 (a.m.) from a neighbor that she (the suspect) had come to his house to get him to go back with her to (her) house," the spokesman said.

Once there, she said, the neighbor reportedly found the victim dead.

Officers with the sheriff's department, as well as Missouri State Highway Patrol and Troop G's Division of Drug and Crime Control, responded to the scene to investigate.

The victim, according to the spokesman, was shot an unknown number of times.

The number of wounds and the cause of death will be determined when the autopsy is performed at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington.

The motive is not known at this time, the spokesman said.

Pertinent address:

Van Buren, Mo.