CENTERVILLE, Mo. -- The two Southeast Missouri men accused of a triple shooting in Ellington, Mo., arrived Wednesday in Reynolds County, where they made their first court appearance.
Timothy Callahan, 44, of Farmington, Mo., and David Young, 67, of Ironton, Mo., who were taken into custody Saturday at a motel in Deerfield Township, Ohio, were extradited back to Missouri after both men appeared before a judge in Warren County and waived extradition.
"Our department went and got them; I sent two deputies to get them," said Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Stout, who indicated it was about a seven-hour drive each way.
Callahan and Young, according to Casenet, appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Benjamin Thompson and were told of their rights, formally arraigned and ordered to appear at 10 a.m. Nov. 15 for a counsel status hearing.
Each man is charged with two Class A felonies of first-degree murder, three unclassified felonies of armed criminal action and the Class A felony of first-degree assault.
The charges stem from an Oct. 18 shooting, which occurred at about 4 p.m. at the James and Janet Nance residence on Highway 106, about five miles west of Ellington. The couple, as well as another woman, were shot in the head during an apparent robbery.
All three were taken to a St. Louis, Mo., area hospital, where Janet Nance, 72, died the same day. Her 86-year-old husband died three days later.
The other woman, 73-year-old Arlene Barber, survived the attack and is recovering. She reportedly provided authorities with vehicle and suspect descriptions.
"(Barber) was phenomenal; was just amazing," Stout said. "Her strength is out of this world.
"I think that strength came from out of this world."
Stout said the Nances were targeted for an alleged robbery.
Callahan and Young, Stout said, had done work for James Nance before.
After his arrest in Ohio and being told of his rights, Callahan admitted he and Young "traveled to the Nance residence on Highway 106 on Oct. 18, 2017, for the purpose of committing a robbery" there, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Paul Wells' probable-cause affidavit.
Callahan told investigators they drove Young's Pontiac Sunfire to the home, and "he and Young were armed with a .22-caliber revolver and 9mm handgun."
The men, according to Callahan's statement, allegedly stole an undetermined amount of money from James Nance.
"As this was occurring, Janet Nance and Arlene Barber arrived at the residence," Wells said. "Callahan stated that he shot James Nance, Janet Nance and Arlene Barber in the back of the head with the .22-caliber revolver. He and Young then fled the scene."
In the beginning, Stout said, officers had "very few leads," but "they were good ones. We probably starting out had two leads.
"They were pretty strong, even though they were small."
As the investigation progressed, Stout said, there were about 100 leads.
Anytime a call came in, "we checked it out," Stout said.
At this point, Stout said, the investigation is "pretty well wrapped up. There are a couple of important things hanging out there; we're getting ready to leave now and do" those.
Stout said his department and the highway patrol were primarily involved in the investigation, with assistance coming from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The U.S. Marshal Service, he said, also was involved "at the end of it."
"It was all team work," Stout explained. "When you start doing things as a team, you get things done."
Without that team work, "we would still be out there hitting the brush. I can't express that enough" how important the team work is, he said.