The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Local News

July 8, 2009

<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/breaking.gif" Border=0> Men in custody, await charges in Sheldon murders

A Springfield man and Jasper man are likely to each face five charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, in the slaying of a Carthage couple last fall.

Jasper County Sheriff Archie Dunn said at a press conference this afternoon that Darren J. Winans, 21, of Jasper, and Matt D. Laurin, 19, of Springfield, are both in custody and await charges in the murders of Robert and Ellen Sheldon, of rural Carthage.

The double homicide had gone unsolved since the Sheldons’ bodies were discovered inside their home on Black Powder Lane off Mound Street west of Carthage the morning of Oct. 12 by a son, Daniel Sheldon.

Dunn today credited a pair of anonymous tips submitted through the department’s tip lines with helping to lead to the arrests.

Dunn would disclose little information about the tips, including specifically who they identified.

The tip was first received in December, although Dunn said it “kind of led to a dead-end at one point when the guy lawyered up”. He would not identify who “the guy” was.

The tip resurfaced again in May, this time leading to the arrests.

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