Stover man pleads guilty in 2012 double homicide

A Stover man charged with the 2012 double homicide of a Morgan County couple has pleaded guilty to all five charges against him in circuit court Friday.

According to a news release from Morgan County Prosecuting Attorney Dustin Dunklee, Judge Kenneth M. Hayden accepted the guilty plea of Ronald J. Blowers for the Dec. 3, 2012, murder of Mable and Wayne Wells of Ivy Bend.

Blowers, 25 at the time of the murders, entered an Alford guilty plea to all five counts - two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of first-degree burglary.

According to Dunklee's news release, an Alford plea, based on the North Carolina v. Alford case, affirms there are no constitutional barriers in place to prevent a judge from accepting a guilty plea from a defendant who wants to plead guilty while still protesting his innocence or lack of knowledge of the incident.

Dunklee said the plea was accepted by the court and sentencing will be delayed until May 5 in Laclede County, which is pursuant to a previous change of venue. Dunklee noted the guilty plea was not based on any agreed-upon recommendation as to sentence from the state, and the court will have full range of punishment available on all five counts.

According to a news release from Morgan County Sheriff Jim Petty immediately following the incident, the Wells were found dead inside their home, south of Stover.

Petty said Blowers was charged based on "evidence from the scene and information obtained from Ronald Blowers." The sheriff also noted, "it was first believed that the victims had been shot by a small caliber firearm; however, the autopsy revealed they died of blunt force trauma." A pipe, knife and screwdriver were used to inflict the injuries, with a pipe found near the scene after the incident, Petty said.

According to the probable cause statement filed Dec. 5, 2012, by Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. David Rice, during the early evening of Dec. 4, Morgan County Sheriff's Detective Chuck Black and Sgt. Rice responded to a residence in Stover to locate Blowers in relation to a stolen gun and double homicide investigation.

Upon arrival, they immediately saw Blowers in the driveway walking toward them, the statement said. Blowers' shirt was allegedly saturated in blood and he had a fixed-blade knife in his right hand. According to the statement, Blowers allegedly began stabbing himself in the stomach repeatedly and stated, "I did not mean to do it."

Rice ordered Blowers to drop the knife, and Blowers ran away from the law enforcement toward the woods, the statement said. Blowers continued to flee from law enforcement and wave the knife for approximately 20 minutes.

Back-up officers arrived and attempted to deploy a taser device on Blowers without success. Missouri Highway Patrol Cpl. Bill Surface arrived and sprayed Blowers with pepper spray, the statement reported. Blowers allegedly refused to drop the knife and was tackled by officers. He was then taken into custody and the knife was seized.

Blowers has been charged with resisting arrest creating substantial risk of serious injury, a class D felony, and assault on law-enforcement officer in the second degree with a deadly weapon.