Man pleads guilty to reduced charge in shooting

DONIPHAN, Mo. -- A former Poplar Bluff, Mo., man recently was placed on probation after pleading guilty to a weapon-related felony charge stemming from an incident in which his longtime friend died during a physical altercation apparently fueled by alcohol.

Matthew Clifford Coble, 44, pleaded guilty as charged to unlawful use of a weapon Oct. 29 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett, according to Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour.

Coble's plea pre-empted his upcoming trial, which was slated to begin Friday. Coble was to stand trial on the weapons charge as well as first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

Coble had been accused of recklessly causing the death of Christopher Richards, 38, by shooting him during the early morning hours of June 22, 2011, in the front yard of their shared residence.

When deputies with the Butler County Sheriff's Department arrived about 4:30 a.m., they found Richards with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

Emergency medical services personnel arrived and attempted to administer first aid to Richards, who was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, where he later was pronounced dead.

"Based on the evidence deduced in depositions, I felt like it needed to be pled out because of the unlikelihood of a conviction on the manslaughter" charge, Barbour said. "I made [the defendant] an offer; I wanted a felony plea" and agreed to probation.

After Coble entered his guilty plea, Pritchett suspended the imposition of his sentence and placed him on three years' unsupervised probation.

Barbour said one of the special conditions of Coble's probation is he cannot possess a handgun.

According to earlier reports, Coble told authorities he and Richards both had been drinking all night and were "highly intoxicated."

Coble reported Richards as having a "history of violence" when intoxicated and alleged Richards became "aggressive toward him and tried to start a fight with him inside the residence, as well as in the front yard."

At one point, Coble got into his pickup in an attempt to leave, Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs said in his probable-cause statement filed in the case.

Coble "further stated that Richards reached into the vehicle and grabbed him by the throat," Dobbs said. "He stated Richards was standing beside his vehicle when he retrieved his .38-caliber revolver and fired ‘a warning shot up in the air.'

"Moreover, he told me as soon as he fired, Richards fell straight back away from the truck."

The bullet reportedly struck Richards in the top of his skull. It did not "alter the brain," but grazed the skull, Dobbs said at the time.

Coble, Dobbs earlier said, was found to have abrasions on his back and near his right elbow, which were consistent to him having been in a scuffle.