Doniphan man accused of fatally beating stepfather

By DONNA FARLEY

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- A Doniphan man was detained in the Ripley County Jail on Saturday, accused of beating his 72-year-old stepfather to death.

Johnny H. Stanley, 43, is charged with murder in the Wednesday death of Irven Ronald Yarber, according to Ripley County Sheriff Ron Barnett.

Ripley County sheriff's deputies were called to Yarber's home in the early morning hours by Yarber's wife, Barbara, Barnett said.

She told deputies the men had argued, and Stanley left the residence for a time before returning and assaulting Yarber, Barnett said.

Yarber was found unconscious at his home shortly after 4 a.m., according to a probable-cause statement filed Wednesday with a Ripley County court by Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. J.D. Johnson.

Yarber was taken by ambulance to Southeast Health Center of Ripley County, where he later died, according to authorities.

An autopsy in Farmington, Missouri, determined the cause of Barnett's death was blunt-force trauma to the head, he said.

Barbara Yarber told police she and her husband were in bed asleep when her son entered the room and began striking Yarber in the head and face.

"Mrs. Yarber said Mr. Stanley stated numerous times, 'I'm going to kill you,'" Johnson said.

Barbara Yarber tried to the stop the attack, telling officers she bit Stanley and struck him in the head with a glass bottle, but neither stopped the attack. Her husband also attempted to block the attack, she said.

Barbara Yarber said Stanley continued to hit and kick her husband after he had fallen from their bed to the floor.

After the assault, Stanley left the bedroom, saying, "I killed him," according to the probable-cause statement.

Officers were told Stanley had lived at the Yarber home for the past seven months.