Man admits to shooting wife because 'I got tired of her'

NAYLOR, Mo. -- A Naylor man faces domestic assault charges after allegedly shooting his wife during an argument Saturday morning.

Bobby S. Leonard, 59, was charged Saturday with first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action or first-degree domestic assault.

Leonard is being held in the Doniphan City Jail on $150,000 cash bond. He is to be arraigned at 9 a.m. today.

Ripley County Cpl. Earl Wheetley was sent to a home on H.E. White Drive in Naylor about 8:25 a.m. Saturday in reference to a "female being shot by her husband."

Wheetley found a woman, Carolyn Leonard, "laying on the front porch covered in blood," according to his probable-cause affidavit. A man, Wheetley said, was holding a towel on the victim's right shoulder.

When Wheetley asked what had happened, "she stated her and her husband was arguing, and he shot her," said Wheetley, who was told Bobby Leonard was inside the trailer.

Wheetley said he was telling emergency medical services personnel what had happened when a man came out onto the porch. When the man identified himself as Bobby Leonard, Wheetley handcuffed him.

"I asked him if he had any weapons on him, and he stated, 'No, the gun is in the house on the counter,'" Wheetley said.

After being told of his rights and acknowledging he understood those rights, Leonard asked whether his wife was dead, Wheetley said.

"I asked Bobby what happened, and he stated: 'I got tired of her and shot her,'" Wheetley said.

Leonard, he said, gave officers permission to search his home.

Leonard subsequently was booked at the Doniphan City Jail.

His wife was flown to a Memphis, Tennesee, hospital for treatment.

"Last I heard, she was in stable condition," said Sheriff Ron Barnett.