By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

GIRARD, Kan. — A first-degree murder charge is the latest to be added to the growing rap sheet of a Mulberry man.

Duane E. Wahl, 33, has been charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of his roommate, 37-year-old Richard Davis. A first appearance is expected to take place today in Crawford County District Court in Girard.

Authorities have yet to locate the body of Davis, who has been missing since Oct. 30 and is presumed dead. Authorities said they believe this is the first case in Crawford County in which a murder charge has been filed in the absence of a victim’s body.

The first-degree murder charge stems from DNA evidence collected from a home that authorities say was shared by Davis and Wahl. The results of a lab analysis of that evidence were received Wednesday by local authorities, Sheriff Sandy Horton said Thursday.

“The DNA evidence is that of the alleged victim and the suspect,” Horton said. “And that’s just going to confuse you more because I really can’t elaborate past that.”

Wahl was in custody when he was charged in the slaying. He has been in the Crawford County Jail since Oct. 31 on charges of violating a protection order and making a false report about a drive-by shooting.

Crawford County Attorney Michael Gayoso said that to his knowledge, this case marks the first time that a first-degree murder charge has been filed in the county without a body of a victim.

“Without a body, you’ve got to prove the person is also dead,” he said. “It’s an additional fact that’s not typically needed (to be established to the jury).”

Disappearance

In addition to Wahl and Davis, the home at 410 W. Perry St. in Mulberry was home to Davis’ wife and two children, and Wahl’s girlfriend, 32-year-old Anna Khan.

Davis has been missing since Oct. 30, the same day on which Khan filed for a protection order in Crawford County District Court against Wahl. Davis’ wife reported him missing that afternoon.

Wahl previously lived in McCune. He moved to Mulberry after an incident last February in which his two dogs reportedly were shot in front of his home by McCune Mayor Don Call. Call was charged with two felony counts of animal cruelty; a plea agreement is pending in that case.

Some time after the shooting of his dogs, Wahl and Khan apparently moved to the Perry Street house in Mulberry, a small town in the northeast portion of Crawford County, near the Missouri state line.

The sheriff said the Davis family moved to Mulberry from the Tulsa, Okla., area after the wife of Richard Davis apparently became friends with Khan via the Internet. He said the two couples apparently had not been acquainted for long before the move.

Khan stated that she was “held prisoner” at the home by Wahl, and that she was afraid he might try to harm her or the Davis children, according to a copy of the Oct. 30 protection order on file with the court.

“I broke up with Duane because Duane was holding me prisoner in the house,” Khan wrote in the request for an order. “Duane has weapons in the house, and won’t say where.”

Khan also alleges in the protection order request that Wahl perpetrated a drive-by shooting in an attempt to blame and discredit a juvenile whom he was accused of sexually abusing. She also stated that after Wahl was released on bond on the charge of filing a false report, he attempted to poison her.

Horton, the sheriff, said the investigation into the allegations of poisoning did not yield any evidence. Wahl was arrested the next day after being accused of violating the protection order, and he has been in custody ever since.

The sheriff declined to comment on Khan’s statement that Wahl had weapons in the house, and he declined to say whether Wahl has given any statement since being jailed.

Timeline

The murder charge is yet another in a string of criminal cases that have been filed or adjudicated against Wahl this year.

Wahl is charged with six offenses. In Crawford County District Court, he is charged with first-degree murder, burglary, theft and indecent liberties with a child. In Mulberry Municipal Court, he is charged with filing a false report and violating a protection order.

“(Wahl) is a unique individual,” Horton said.

Those six cases began with Wahl’s arrest in August 2008 on charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and criminal sodomy. He pleaded guilty last month to one count of indecent liberties with a child and is expected to be sentenced in January.

Wahl was on the sheriff’s radar again after an incident Oct. 5 in which he reported a drive-by shooting at his Mulberry home.

Wahl told police that a man in a silver, newer model Toyota pickup truck with an extended cab fired shots about 12:20 p.m. at his home. Wahl told police that he did not know the man.

Horton previously told the Globe that Wahl’s report raised some doubts among investigators right off the bat. Information from an acquaintance of Wahl’s prompted more skepticism, and investigators eventually determined that Wahl shot up his own house with a handgun, the sheriff said.

Wahl was arrested Oct. 28 by Mulberry police on the charge of filing a false report and was released on bond the next day. But he was back in jail again after his arrest on Oct. 31 for allegedly violating the protection order sworn out against him by Khan.

Horton said that during the investigation into Davis’ disappearance, evidence was collected that led to charges against Wahl in two theft cases. One case involved the alleged theft of a VCR/DVD player from a store in Cherokee, and the other involved the alleged theft of a cell phone from Wahl’s previous employer.





Search for body



Sheriff Sandy Horton said several agencies, including the Barton County Sheriff’s Department in Missouri, have been engaged in searching for Richard Davis’ body.

“We are confident the crime occurred in Mulberry, but we have not located the body,” he said. “We hope the publicity from this announcement will generate more leads for us to follow up on.”