Four sentenced to life in killing at bingo hall

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A federal judge sentenced four people to two consecutive life terms apiece Monday for a murder and robbery that followed a bingo game at a Fort Leonard Wood recreation hall.

Prosecutors said the robbery at the Army post on the night of Dec. 13, 2001, was an inside job. The defendants included an enlisted man and the club's civilian manager. The victim, civilian Brian Adams, 47, of Dixon, had been a patron that night at the Davis Club, which serves noncommissioned officers.

Federal authorities investigated and prosecuted the case because it occurred on a military installation.

William R. Boone II, 32; Jerome Creighton, 27; Kelvin Washington, 21; and Barbara L. Turner, 30, were convicted in April of one count each of felony murder and armed robbery.

Evidence showed that Turner arranged for Washington, who was an enlisted man serving at Ford Leonard Wood, to be working at the club on the night of the robbery.

Turner had cashed a check for a bingo night promotion and stored $14,000 worth of proceeds in the club's safe, whose combination she gave to the others. Washington opened the door after the club had closed for the night and let the others in.

Prosecutors said Adams and a club employee were tied up and threatened with a shotgun before Adams was shot in the abdomen.

Washington was arrested in New York City in March 2003 after police there ran a check on his unoccupied vehicle and learned of its connection to the Missouri case.