Hearings set today for two charged in Carthage slayings w/ letter to sheriff, court motion to preserve evidence

By Susan Redden

sredden@joplinglobe.com

Arguments that two men should stand trial in the murders of Robert and Ellen Sheldon last October near Carthage are scheduled today in the Associate Division of Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin.

Preliminary hearings for Darren J. Winans, 21 of rural Jasper, and Matthew D. Laurin, 19, of Springfield, are set for 9 a.m. today.

Robert Sheldon was a longtime reserve deputy for the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, and the court may also hear arguments claiming that that association led to the alleged abuse of Winans in the county jail.

Charges

Winans and Laurin are charged with crimes including two counts of first-degree murder. But affidavits filed in the case state that while Laurin has confessed to going to the Sheldon home for a planned robbery, he contends that Winans was the one who stabbed the couple to death.

A state public defender in late July wrote a letter asking that Winans be transferred to a jail outside the county. The letter said Winans twice had been abused by jailers, and that the treatment was because of his alleged involvement in the slayings of the former reserve deputy and his wife.

A motion filed about the same time asked the court to order the preservation of videotapes from the jail that the defense contends will show Winans was subjected to abuse and excessive force at the hands of jailers on or about July 13 and July 17. Court records show no similar filings on Laurin’s behalf.

Responses

Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn in a telephone interview Thursday dismissed the allegations.

“It didn’t happen,” he said. “Anything like that would taint our case, and we’re not going to do that.”

Dean Dankelson, Jasper County prosecutor, also countered the claim, and he said he is uncertain whether abuse allegations will be raised by the defense during today’s proceedings.

“I don’t think there was anything to it, and I don’t think there has been any abuse of the prisoner,” he said.

The letter was written and the motion filed by Frank Yankoviz, a local public defender, who has withdrawn from the case. He deferred questions to Joseph Zuzul, now the attorney of record. The Globe’s attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.