The murder case against a Williamsville, Mo., man accused of suffocating his elderly bedridden father was dismissed Thursday morning by the state.
The dismissal by Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher came hours before Kevin Eugene Hayes, 54, was supposed to appear before Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth for a preliminary hearing on the Class A felony of first-degree murder.
Hayes had been accused of causing the death of Floyd Hayes, 85, by smothering him with a pillow in September 2016 during what earlier was described as a heated disagreement over a substantial inheritance of property the elder Hayes had revoked.
The elder Hayes' death certificate lists natural causes as his cause of death, but two people say it was murder, Oesterreicher said.
"I've got to show something" as far as evidence to prove the state's case, Oesterreicher said.
In an attempt to find additional evidence, "I got a court order to exhume the body," Oesterreicher said.
Butler County Coroner Andy Moore, he said, subsequently exhumed Floyd Hayes' body.
The exhumation, Moore said, took place on Sept. 26 at Brown Chapel Cemetery at Broseley.
"After we exhumed the body, the sheriff's department tells me the casket had water in it," Oesterreicher explained. "The casket destroyed any evidence that was in there.
" ... Based on the exhumation and because of the fact the casket had destroyed that evidence, the state could not proceed."
According to Moore, Brown Chapel Cemetery does not require an "outer enclosure" for the caskets.
When there is no protection, he said, ground water can seep into the casket.
Authorities, according to earlier reports, had became suspicious regarding the elder Hayes' death in August while screening jail inmate phone calls.
During a recorded call with a bondsman, Kevin Hayes, who was in jail on other unrelated charges asked the man to have a "firm conversation" with his wife, Amanda Hayes, to sway her to remove the protection order restraining him from contacting her.
Kevin Hayes reportedly mentioned his father and the date of Sept. 4, 2016, which was his date of death, during the call.
" ... he further states that 'if she wants to set behind bars for 30 ... years, she better think about it,'" Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs wrote in his probable-cause statement. "Furthermore, he states: 'I can do my time, can she do hers?'"
Kevin Hayes, Dobbs said, went on to say the reason for the recent physical abuse he allegedly had inflicted on his wife was because "she brings up my inheritance and my dad and I told her don't ever ... bring it up again."
Amanda Hayes subsequently was interviewed.
Dobbs said the woman reported on Sept. 4, 2016, her husband and his father "had a disagreement over Kevin Hayes' request to take over the ownership and operations of the family farm" owned by his father.
"She stated Kevin Hayes was irate because his father told him no because of his drug and alcohol abuse," Dobbs said. "She stated that Kevin Hayes expressed to her that he wished his father would go ahead and die.
"Soon after ... (he) stated: 'I'm going to end it,' then walked into Floyd Hayes' bedroom."
Upon exiting the bedroom, Dobbs said, the woman reported her husband told her "his father was dead and that he had suffocated him by holding a pillow over his face."
After his father's death, Amanda Hayes reported her husband did inherit the farm, which was sold for in excess of $350,000.
During the investigation, Dobbs said, he was contacted by a jail inmate, who had shared a pod with Kevin Hayes.
The inmate, Dobbs said, reported Kevin Hayes, who he had known for a long time, "confided in him that he needed a good divorce lawyer and a lawyer for murder.
"He stated he assumed ... Hayes planned to kill his wife; however, Hayes corrected him and stated that he had helped his 85-year-old father take his last breath by suffocating him with a pillow."