BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Stoddard County jury took about 55 minutes Tuesday afternoon to convict a Doniphan man of murdering a convicted sex offender by shooting him in 2016.
Just before 3:50 p.m., the bailiff entered the courtroom to tell Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Mayer that the jury "had arrived at a verdict" in the case of Michael "Mick" Harris.
When the eight-man, four-woman jury returned to the courtroom, its foreperson handed the verdict forms to the bailiff.
Mayer then read the verdicts.
"As to count I, the jury finds Michael 'Mick' Harris guilty of murder in the first degree ... as to count II, the jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, finds (Harris) guilty of armed criminal action," Mayer read.
As Mayer continued reading, he said, the jury found Harris guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, of the felonies of tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
Harris was convicted of acting with Matthew Brandon Bruce to cause the April 26, 2016, death of Jonathan Tarvin, aka Giovanni Luciendada, 34.
When Mayer asked Harris' attorney, Steve Lynxwiler with the Public Defender's Office, whether he wanted the jury polled, the attorney indicated he did.
Mayer then asked each juror to stand as he called each by name, asking: "As to count I, murder in the first degree, you voted guilty" or "is this your true and correct verdict."
Each jurors answered yes, just as they did when Mayer asked whether that was their verdict on all the counts.
Before discharging the jury, Mayer said, the trial was "well tried by both sides and (the jury) fairly weighed the evidence."
Mayer subsequently ordered a sentencing assessment report be completed by Probation & Parole and set sentencing for 1 p.m. Aug. 15.
The jury began its deliberations at 2:55 p.m. after hearing closing arguments from special prosecuting attorney, Steve Sokoloff, and both Lynxwiler and his co-counsel, Tim Fleener.
During the two-day trial, the jury heard from 12 witnesses, including the three on Tuesday.
Wearing a green striped jail uniform, Bruce testified he was at his mother's home on April 26, 2016, having arrived there at about noon.
"I took a washing machine over to her house; I hooked it up," Bruce said.
When Sokoloff asked whether Bruce knew "Giovanni" or had met him before, the witness said, no.
While at his mom's house, Bruce said, his sister, Ashley, went down to his "Aunt Polly's house." He said he also went to see Pauline "Polly" DeWitt, who lived nearby to her sister, Bruce's mother, at that time.
"As I approached the house, Mick was trying to get Giovanni to come out of the house," which Tarvin subsequently did, Bruce said. "As I walked up ...Giovanni came toward me.
"He was throwing his hands up in the air, hollering 'This happens everywhere I go.'"
Earlier testimony indicated family members of DeWitt had learned on April 25, 2016, Tarvin, who had been living with DeWitt for about a month, was a convicted sex offender from Texas and may have had warrants out of his arrest.
Bruce testified that in an attempt to protect himself, he put Tarvin in a headlock. Harris, he said, subsequently approached.
Bruce told the jury Tarvin "said he wasn't trying to fight me; I let him go. Mick told him (Tarvin) was leaving (DeWitt's house)."
Harris, Bruce said, told both he and Tarvin to get in the truck,
"(Tarvin) said he needed his stuff," said Bruce, who indicated his aunt and sister went inside to gather Tarvin's things.
The men reportedly left before the women returned.
"He said we were taking him and dropping him off at a lady's house" in the Highway P area, Bruce said.
According to Bruce, Harris was driving, and he drove toward Bruce's house off of Highway V.
En route, "we started talking about weed," Bruce said. "We went to my house to get weed."
As they did so, Bruce confirmed they "kept going past" Highway P.
"We stopped at the end of my driveway; I went into the house (and) used the bathroom" for about 20 minutes, Bruce said. "I came out the side door by my carport."
At this point, Bruce said, the truck was gone.
"I walked down the side of my house" toward "my barn ... half way across the yard, I could see Mick," Bruce said. "I could see his right side and back."
Bruce said there was a fence between he and Harris, but as "I started walking down ... I heard a shot. I seen Giovanni laying on the ground."
Bruce indicated Tarvin had a wound to the back of his head, and there also was blood.
Harris "tried to tell me to shoot him," but, Bruce said, he did not.
Bruce said he subsequently got his four-wheeler and used it and a dog leash to drag Tarvin's body to a burn pile.
When Sokoloff asked who attached the leash, the witness said, he did.
Bruce said he and Harris both rode on the four wheeler as they dragged Tarvin to the burn pile, which was about 100 yards from the barn.
Bruce described the slabs as being about 9 feet long, and the burn pile was about 4 feet high.
Bruce said they dragged Tarvin's body "up by there, along the side of (the pile). We covered him up with slabs."
At that point, Bruce said, he and Harris left and went back to DeWitt's home.
"A couple of times, (Harris) told me not to say anything to anyone," Bruce said. "If anyone asked, I was say we dropped him out on P Highway."
The next day or the day after that, Bruce said, Harris came over to his house and mowed his yard, something Harris had never done before.
While Harris was mowing, Bruce said, he stayed in the house with his baby.
Bruce said he later went to set the burn pile on fire, but the body was no longer there.
When Sokoloff asked whether his mom or sister asked about Tarvin, the witness said, his aunt had.
When initially questioned by law enforcement, Bruce said, he reported "I didn't know what they were talking about" and didn't tell what had happened.
Bruce confirmed he also had been charged with the same offenses as Harris, but pleaded guilty in Butler County to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea bargain.
Although he has not been sentenced, Bruce told the jury he is to get nine years.
"At any point, did you admit to shooting Giovanni," Sokoloff asked.
"No ... I helped cover it up," Bruce replied.
On cross-examination, Bruce confirmed there had been a confrontation between Tarvin and Harris, and did not deny he went after Tarvin.
"He told me he wasn't going to fight me," Bruce reiterated.
Much of Fleener's cross-examination centered around the three interviews Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Johnson conducted with Bruce.
When Fleener asked about specific things Bruce said to Johnson, Bruce repeatedly responded with: "I don't remember; I don't recall."
Bruce later said he didn't remember what he told Johnson.
"I don't remember what all I've told the cops; it's been over two years," Bruce said.
The state's final witness was Frederick Keith Schlib, a special agent with the Office of Inspector General, Social Security Administration.
Schlib said he was contacted by Ripley County Deputy Richie Phillips on about Aug. 24, 2016, regarding a missing persons case he was working.
Tarvin, Schlib said, received supplement income/disability payments, which were placed onto a debit card from American Bank.
"In this case, I was able to contact American Bank," which provided the last four usages associated with Tarvin's card, Schlib said.
The records, he said, were for April 9, 2016, to Aug. 1, 2016.
"The last time the account was used was April 11, 2016," for an automatic withdrawal from iTunes, said Schlib, who checked the account on Friday.
When asked about further use, Schlib said, Tarvin's benefits had been suspended "when we were notified. No one has come into the Social Security office to access" Tarvin's account, which has "no money flowing through that account" at this time.
After the state rested its case at 10:37 a.m., Lynxwiler called Johnson to testify.
Johnson told the jury he conducted three separate interviews with Bruce.
In his first interview on Aug. 29, 2016, Bruce "initially stated he didn't know anything further than what he told the Ripley County Sheriff's Office," Johnson said.
During that interview, Johnson said, Bruce reported he was at his mom's house, working on an air conditioning unit when he heard a commotion in the driveway area of his aunt's house.
Johnson said Bruce further reported he went down to DeWitt's house to see what was going on.
Johnson further testified Bruce told him Tarvin came out of DeWitt's house and came around the side of a vehicle "waving his arms, coming toward him ... aggressively."
A physical altercation then occurred between Tarvin and Bruce, in which Bruce put Tarvin in a headlock and took him to the ground, Johnson said.
"He kept him there for a period of time before he calmed down," the witness said.
Bruce, Johnson said, reported he, Harris and Tarvin left together and went to his house.
Lynxwiler asked Johnson whether Bruce told "different stories."
Johnson confirmed he had.
The first story reportedly was that Harris killed Tarvin in the truck, but Johnson said, Bruce later said he heard the shot.
Regarding the marijuana, Johnson said, he recalled Bruce saying they were going to get some marijuana not that they "smoked (it) before the homicide."
Initially, Johnson said, Bruce tried to distance himself from what happened as much as he could.
When asked whether Harris lit the burn pile on fire, Johnson said, Bruce indicated he "didn't know who lit it on fire, but, at some point, it was lit on fire."
Johnson also testified as to Bruce telling of how Harris came back his house to mow his yard.
Bruce, Johnson said, also told him about the physical altercation he had with Tarvin, as well as the three men leaving in the truck together.
"I believe Mr. Harris told (Bruce) to get in the truck with him," Johnson said. "Mr. Harris loaded Mr. Tarvin in the back of it."
In later interviews, Johnson said, Bruce provide details consistent with what he earlier had reported.
Bruce, Johnson said, again reported seeing Harris shoot Tarvin in the head, the only difference was Tarvin was in kneeling position when he was shot.
At one point, Johnson said, Bruce reported he was walking toward the chicken coop (barn) area when he heard the shot.
Johnson indicated in Bruce's initial interview he "told things that didn't add up."
Initially, Johnson said, Bruce reported he had "no idea what was going on," then he stated he heard the shot and then "admits to having seen it."
Johnson confirmed Bruce told him about using the four-wheeler to drag Tarvin, as well as putting slabs on his body.
"I don't recall who ... just that slabs were piled" on him, Johnson said.
Bruce, he said, did say his wife asked why the burn pile was on fire at one point.
Regarding Harris mowing Bruce's yard, Johnson said, he was told "that's never happened before. In my mind, Mr. Harris was there to do something other than mow (Bruce's) yard."
Another change in Bruce's final interview, Johnson said, was that "he didn't know the outcome of the body on the pile. ... He went back, and the body was not there.
" ... His story was almost verbatim to that point. He did state he had a conversation with Mr. Tarvin, and they apologized to each other after the physical altercation."
Johnson said Bruce also indicated that if Tarvin was "leaving (as Harris had said) why did he not take any of his clothes ... the ladies went to get the items, and they left" prior to DeWitt and Ashley Bruce returning.
On cross-examination, Johnson confirmed it is not unusual for suspects to minimize their involvement in a crime.
"It would be unusual if they didn't," said Johnson, who indicated it also is normal for statements to evolve and extraneous details to be added.
Johnson said it wasn't so much that Bruce's story changed, but that it "changed my thought process on what happened."
Lynxwiler subsequently asked if Johnson told Bruce to "help himself" during the interviews and that he wanted to believe the man.
"I told him that," Johnson said.
After Johnson's testimony, the defense rested its case at 11:45 a.m.
Harris chose not to testify on his on behalf.