Murder suspect considers plea offer from prosecutors

Lawyer Jacob Zimmerman said at a pretrial conference hearing Tuesday in Jackson his client, murder suspect Russell D. Mayberry, 32, of Zalma, Missouri, received a new plea offer from the state and planned to seriously consider that offer.

The Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Mayberry with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution in January 2014.

A change of venue to Cape Girardeau County was approved in April.

Mayberry shot and killed Kenny L. Willard, 53, of Bismarck, Missouri, while Willard was on a hunting trip in October 2014, according to a probable-cause statement filed in the case by Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper J.L. Weadon.

Mayberry and his father, Roger Mayberry, were with Willard at a sawmill when Russell Mayberry shot Willard with a .22 caliber firearm, Weadon wrote.

Mayberry told his father he killed Willard over dope, and he was afraid Willard planned to kill him, according to the statement.

Mayberry and his father dumped the body in the Black River after transporting it in a trailer, Weadon wrote.

The body was found Jan. 24, 2015, in the Black River in Wayne County.

Judge Michael Gardner scheduled a hearing in Mayberry’s case for 9 a.m. Jan. 10. Zimmerman said the case could be resolved at that date.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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