The two men accused of the murders of Robert and Ellen Sheldon of rural Carthage were bound over today to the trial division of Jasper County Circuit Court.
Matthew Laurin, 19, of Springfield waived his preliminary hearing, but a hearing was conducted for Darren Winans, 21, of Jasper.
Laurin and Winans are charged with the Oct. 11, 2008, slayings of the Sheldons at their rural Carthage home.
Testimony from witnesses revealed that Winans, sometime around Christmas, had told a Springfield woman that he and Laurin had murdered two Joplin area people and had killed their dog.
Jasper County Sheriff’s Det. Tim Williams testified that in the course of the investigation he had visited Tina Bass, Winan’s mother. She handed over a knife allegedly used in the murders.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Joplin Globe.
