Woman charged in running over ex-husband at center of 2011 'Castle Doctrine' stabbing death

Two of Cynthia Perry's ex-lovers have died a violent death following an altercation.

The second occurred Thursday, Nov. 30, when John David Perry died from injuries he sustained Saturday night, Nov. 25, when police allege Cynthia Perry ran over him in a Ford Bronco.

The other happened in 2011. That's when Walter Claar, known as "Wally", was stabbed twice and died four days later.

Cynthia Perry, formerly Cynthia "Cindy" Ussery, was charged with second- degree domestic assault and armed criminal action Wednesday, Nov. 29. It was not immediately known whether charges would be upgraded now that Perry has died from his injuries. Perry was found after witnesses say Cynthia Perry was kicked out of the Eagles Club, which was hosting a benefit for a man who had recently died. Witnesses found John David Perry unresponsive in the parking lot with a wound to his head, and no sign of Cynthia Perry or the man with whom she left the establishment.

In 2011, Cynthia Perry was at the center of the stabbing death of a man named Walter Claar, who she was dating at the time. Cynthia Perry did not stab Claar, according to an investigation memo produced by then-Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle. The document explained that the man who stabbed Claar was the boyfriend of Cynthia Perry's (then Ussery's) daughter.

Swingle did not press charges on the grounds that the stabbing was protected by Missouri's "Castle Doctrine".

The document claimed Claar attacked her by "grabbing and hitting her." The man who stabbed Claar "punched him in the chest with the hand that held the knife, causing two small puncture wounds that proved to be fatal."

The document, authored by Swingle, said it would have been better for the domestic abuse victim to have called the sheriff's department. "Had she done so, he likely would still be alive. She had the right, though, to demand that he leave the premises. Once he attacked her, she (and her daughter's boyfriend) had the right to use deadly force."

The same document also explained that witnesses originally claimed Claar had been injured by falling against a board with nails.

Claar's family at the time wanted criminal charges filed. Eddie Claar told a reporter in 2011 that he believed his son was murdered. He told the newspaper that Wally Claar did not beat his girlfriend.

"My son has not been an angel, but he was not a woman beater," Eddie Claar said at the time. "He shouldn't have been there -- we begged him not to go back -- but he didn't deserve to die." Eddie Claar told the newspaper there was domestic violence in his son's relationship with the woman, but that his son never beat her. Eddie Claar told the newspaper his son's wounds were indicative of murder rather than self defense. "I can invite someone into my house, kill him and tear up the walls to make it look like a struggle," Eddie Claar said at the time. Eddie Claar died in 2015.

In the recent altercation that left John David Perry unresponsive and in critical condition, Cynthia Perry allegedly ran over her ex-husband with her vehicle, apparently leaving him in a somewhat deformed condition. Witnesses at the scene said she was with Michael Bievenue at the Eagles Club, which was hosting a benefit event for a man who had recently died.

According to a probable- cause statement signed by an officer whose name was redacted, Cynthia Perry said her ex-husband had punched her before she got into her Bronco Sport and left the lot. She said she felt a bump while leaving the parking lot. She left there and went to a bar in Frohna, Missouri. Cynthia Perry ended up in Kansas City, Missouri.

Ussery has a criminal record that includes multiple DWIs as well as charges of child endangerment and harassment. According to the probable-cause statement, Cynthia Perry's license is revoked, and she did not have proof of insurance.

Cynthia Perry's family has dealt with violence beyond John David Perry and Walter Claar. Cynthia's brother, Charlie Ussery, shot himself after unintentionally shooting his mother, Lana Ussery, when she tried to wrestle the gun away from her son in 2010. Charlie was threatening to kill himself, according to previous reports, which he apparently did after his mother was wounded. Immediately after the shooting, Lana Ussery was listed in critical condition and survived after emergency surgery.

Both Claar's death and Charlie Ussery's death took place at 3809 Old Route V, the residence of Cynthia Perry's mother, according to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian.