DONIPHAN, Mo. - A Ripley County homicide case still is missing a key piece of evidence but two men facing murder charges will be tried in felony court.
During a preliminary hearing Wednesday, investigators said that bone fragments found in the remains of a fire allegedly used to dispose of the body of 34-year-old Jonathan Tarvin later were confirmed by an anthropologist to be animal bones.
Criminal investigator Jeff Johnson with the Missouri Highway Patrol, in response to questions from defense attorney Michael Hackworth, said nothing identifiable as human remains was found in the ashes.
Eight witnesses took the witness stand during the hearing for Matthew Brandon Bruce, 29, of Doniphan.
After more than two hours of testimony, Associate Circuit Judge Thomas D. Swindle ruled evidence was sufficient for Bruce to be tried for first-degree murder.
After sitting through Bruce's hearing, a second man charged with the murder, Michael G. 'Mitch' Harris, 59, accompanied by his public defender David Wade, waived Harris' preliminary hearing. Both defendants, who are being held without bond, are scheduled for arraignment Nov. 21 before Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett in Ripley County Circuit Court, Division I.
Johnson and MSHP Sgt. Scott Stoelting testified that both men admitted participating in the April 26 murder although each identified the other as the 'trigger man' who shot Tarvin in the head after driving him to Bruce's residence about 16 miles west of Doniphan along U.S. Highway 160.
Also testifying was Pauline Dewitt, Harris' mother-in-law. Dewitt said she began a relationship with Tarvin after first meeting him through a friend of her granddaughter. Tarvin moved into her residence along Highway 21 south of Doniphan on 'the day before Easter (March 26).'
"He was there 31 days," she said.
Dewitt said Harris came to her house on April 26 demanding that Tarvin move out after 'my niece pulled up on the internet some things about (Tarvin) and (Harris) didn't like it."
Tarvin reportedly was convicted in July 1998 (when he was 16 years old) of aggravated sexual assasult on a child in Bell, Texas, and was listed on a national registry of sex offenders.
Earlier in the day Michael Harris and his wife had contacted the Ripley County Sheriff's Office asking for a deputy to come remove Tarvin from Dewitt's residence.
Office manager Sally Luye with the sheriff's department testified that a call was received April 26 from a female identified as Jama Harris requesting a deputy come to her mother's house 'because he was a sex offender.'
Luye said she first 'checked it out' on internet records and 'gave it to a deputy.' A short time later, Luye said she received a second call from Michael Harris.
"He repeated the same thing and then said they would take it upon themselves," Luye said.
Luye said Michael and Jama Harris along with Dewitt also came to the sheriff's office that day. Luye said the Harrises told her they wanted Tarvin removed from the house but Dewitt told her she didn't want him to leave.
"(Dewitt) was present (at the office) and said she didn't want him removed," Luye said.
Dewitt testified that later that day she was sleeping when Tarvin woke her up.
"John was standing at the foot of the bed and I asked him what was going on," Dewitt said. "Michael came in and told him he was going to leave and pointed a gun to his head. John told him he needed to put it down."
Dewitt said the men went to the back porch and continued arguing.
"John told him that if he was a sex offender with that many cases against him that he would still be in jail," Dewitt said.
Dewitt said while the men were on the back porch that Bruce joined them.
"Brandon got him around the neck and Michael walked over and kicked Jonathan," she said. "Michael kept saying he was going to take (Tarvin) to another lady's house where he was going to stay."
Dewitt said she went inside the house to get Tarvin's belongings but when she returned outside all three men were gone.
She said she never saw Tarvin again.
Dewitt said Harris returned to her house 'maybe an hour' later and told her to 'do away with' Tarvin's 'things.'
"I told him I would leave them in case he came back," she said. "He had nothing with him when he left - his wallet, phone, bank cards, everything was still there."
Dewitt said she tried over the next few days to reach Melva Wiggins.
Wiggins, who resides in the Tucker community near Gatewood, testified that Tarvin had lived with her for five years and had become an 'adopted son' to her and her husband.
"He had gotten off a train in Poplar Bluff and was homeless so we more or less adopted him through The Bread Shed (ministry,)" Wiggins said.
Wiggins said she was in Kentucky on April 26 and didn't return home for nearly a week.
Dewitt said she tried for the next few days to contact Wiggins 'but didn't know how.'
"I drove to the house at Gatewood but the gate was locked," Dewitt said. "I figured John would want his bank card and things but I found out later that Velma was in Kentucky with her husband."
Dewitt said a few days later she saw Wiggins at McDonald's in Doniphan and learned that Tarvin had not returned to Wiggins' home.
On May 4, Wiggins said she filed a missing persons report with the sheriff's department.
Ripley County chief deputy Richie Phillips testified that he was unaware of the original report and that it had been received by another deputy. On Aug. 24, Phillips said he received a call from Tarvin's sister, who resides in Washington state.
"They wanted to know if I had any new information but I didn't know about the original report," Phillips said.
Phillips said he checked with an investigator with the Social Security Administration and learned that Tarvin's debit card account had not been used since April 11.
Phillips said he contacted the Highway Patrol Crime and Drug Division and turned the investigation over to them.
Investigator Johnson said information was obtained that Bruce and Harris were the last two people seen with the victim. Both men were questioned separately by state investigators at the sheriff's office in Doniphan.
Johnson and Stoelting testified that during questioning both suspects changed their stories several times about what had occurred after leaving Dewitt's house with Tarvin. Both eventually agreed they had driven the victim to Bruce's residence and that Tarvin had been shot in the head. Each suspect identified the other as being the 'trigger man.'
Bruce admitted that he drug the body to a slab pile behind his home using a four-wheeler and a nylon dog 'lead.' He told officers that he placed several wood slabs over the body. The slab pile eventually was burned.
Johnson said investigators have continued to follow leads in an attempt to locate the victim's body.
In September, a lost camper reported finding a body in a wooded area on forest service property near Fourche Lake in western Ripley County, about three miles from Bruce's property. The woman was unable to give officers a precise location.
Chief deputy Phillips said between 25-30 searchers walked the area over a two-week period but failed to locate a body.
Deputy Rachel McColley testified that she found a 'slip-on, camo-colored shoe' during the search. Dewitt told investigators that Tarvin was wearing the same type of shoe when she last saw him.
In October, three people fishing at Fourche Lake told the sheriff's department of seeing something under the water that appeared to be a human skull. A search identified the item as a rubber Halloween mask, Johnson said.
Both men are charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, felony tampering with evidence and abandonement of a corpse.