Shepard murder trial: Community shocked at news Shepards were murdered, 3 teens charged with the crime

Drive down the street where it happened.

It's a quiet street in a quiet neighborhood. The nearby houses are well kept and spacious, with neatly trimmed lawns where children play.

The house, repainted and repaired, had been empty for more than a year before it was finally sold. More than two years have passed now, and it shows no signs of the mayhem that happened there.

In the beautiful twilight of a late summer day, it's hard to imagine the events that took place on South Lafayette Avenue in the early morning hours of June 5, 2006.

Murder is always hard to imagine.

And, at first, murder wasn't even suspected.

Initial reports said two bodies had been recovered, believed to be those of Richard "R.D." and Jessie "Tiny" Shepard, who had lived in the house for longer than most of their neighbors could remember. Their deaths were the city's first in a structural fire in more than 10 years.

It was thought they had been asleep when the fire, concentrated in an upper-level bedroom, broke out.

But within days, the truth was uncovered. A press release confirmed the Shepards had been the victims of foul play.

The preliminary report from the Jackson County medical examiner's office said, "Both Shepards died in the same way. Both victims received blunt and sharp force trauma. The majority of the trauma was to the head and neck (areas) of the victims. The victims were apparently assaulted, and then the room that they were left in burned.

"How the fire started is still under investigation, but both victims were deceased before the fire started and their deaths were a direct result of the assault by other(s)."

Kim Shepard-Fabrizi, the Shepards' granddaughter, announced a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible on June 9, just three days after the discovery of the two in their Marshall home June 6.

After the Missouri Rural Case Squad, assisted by the Marshall Police Department and the Saline County Sheriff's Department, chased down more than 100 leads, Spencer Tromont Anderson, 18, Lyndale Devor Henderson, 17, and an unnamed juvenile, 16, all of Marshall, were arrested.

Each of the three was charged with two counts of class A felony murder in the first degree, two counts of felony armed criminal action, one count of class B felony arson in the first degree and one count of class B felony burglary in the first degree.

The probable cause statement issued by the Missouri Rural Major Case Squad, which assisted local authorities during the investigation, alleged that the juvenile had confessed that he, along with Anderson and Henderson, planned in advance to burglarize and kill the elderly couple.

"During the interview, (he stated) that he met with Lyndale D. Henderson and Spencer Anderson on Thursday, June 1, 2006, and planned to go to the Shepard residence to break in and kill the occupants. (The juvenile) stated that during this meeting they planned who would search which rooms, and who would inflict injuries."

"(He) admitted that he searched the basement rooms and went to the upper level bedroom and participated in the murders of the Shepards," the court document reads. "(He) admits to stabbing both Richard and Jessie Shepard.

"(He) stated that after the killings, they set a fire in the room by pouring an accelerant on the bed and lighting it with a burning book."

The last paragraph of the probable cause statement states that the 16-year-old also said the trio netted $70 in cash as a result of the burglary and murders, "taken from the wallet of Richard Shepard."

The first-degree murder charges carry a maximum punishment of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole, but only Anderson was eligible for the death penalty, as the only one of the three who met the age requirement of 18 for that punishment.

In the days following, members of the victim's family were outspoken about their feelings.

On June 12, following initial court appearances by Spencer Anderson and Lyndale Henderson, Christine Estill of Marshall said the "heinous crime" had shaken the family to its core.

"It devastated the whole family," said Estill. "We have not been able to sleep, knowing that something like this has happened."

"It has just killed me on the inside," she said, "because Tiny and R.D. would break their backs to do anything for anybody."

Estill said she wanted the trio to be tried as adults.

" … I hope they rot somewhere," she said. "I want them to know how much they have hurt the family."

Mary Eppenauer of Grain Valley, a second cousin of Tiny Shepard, and a former Marshall resident, said she was "very relieved" that arrests had been made, but said she and others in the family wondered how society had reached a point where three young men were accused of burglarizing and murdering an elderly couple.

"It's still very hard to believe someone would do something like this," she said.

Both Estill and Eppenauer said they would support prosecutors seeking the death penalty for the suspects.

But not everyone in the groups gathered on the courthouse grounds that day agreed.

Claude Grimes Jr. of Marshall, Lyndale Henderson's uncle, said his nephew was innocent.

"His family, everybody we know knows he didn't do this," Grimes said.

Grimes said Henderson had an alibi for his whereabouts at the time authorities say the crimes were committed.

And, he said, the arrests were racially motivated.

"Saline County will give a black man a charge anytime," he said to a Kansas City television reporter. "This is a racist town."

Donnell Ritter, a cousin of Henderson, also defended Henderson.

"He's innocent. He's innocent," she said.

In a statement released by Shepard-Fabrizi June 13, she urged the three accused young men be tried as adults, echoing statements made earlier by Estill and Eppenauer.

In her statement, Shepard-Fabrizi said, "If found guilty, we hope they receive the harshest punishment by law … send(ing) a strong message that age does not excuse them from facing the consequences of their actions."

On June 14, after a court appearance by Henderson and Anderson to discuss counsel status, DeeDee Grimes addressed the media on behalf of Henderson and his family once again.

"We believe in his innocence," she said. "He's got a lot of support."

Grimes expressed sorrow for the loss suffered by the Shepard family, but said, "At the same time, they have to understand that we're Lyndale's family and we stand behind him."

She added that the face shown in the mug shot by the local police department was obviously not the face of someone who could carry out a planned home invasion and double murder.

"He's a child," she said. "He's done child things."

Grimes said Henderson, involved on the Marshall High School football and wrestling teams, had not done anything out of character for a 17-year-old and had been looking forward to finishing high school.

Family and friends, Grimes added, believe there is evidence that can clear Henderson in this case, if people are willing to come forward and investigators will consider all leads. She said Henderson's mother, Rachael Stewart, had called the Marshall Police Department and asked to be contacted about additional information the family had received, but alleged nobody from the police department responded or returned the call.

Community leaders expressed their comments, too, as events surrounding the case unfolded.

Clyde Williams, president of the Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP, said he wasn't convinced that race was a factor in the arrests.

"The police put in a lot of time" on the investigation, he said.

"It's a tragic thing for all the families and for the community. There's a lot of healing that has to go on. Justice is running its course."

Marshall Mayor Connie Latimer agreed and said she regretted that accusations of racism had been raised.

"This is not about race. It's about character," she said. "My heart goes out to the victims' families and perpetrator's families. What they have done has changed everybody's lives from now on."

Shocking as the events immediately following the deaths of the Shepards were, there were surprises to come.

Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net