William Wolfe Jr. (Photo courtesy of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)
A Douglas County jury has convicted a man of fatally shooting another male at his residence and taking his pickup truck nearly four years ago. After a four-day trial, 57-year-old William Wolfe Jr. of Ava was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and resisting arrest. All 10 counts are felonies.
According to Douglas County Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Weatherman, the case began in September 2020 as a well-being call from a local logger and two family friends of the victim, identified as Clarence “Bob” Clark. Deputies responded and located the body of Clark in his bed deceased from multiple gunshot wounds.
As Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase was enroute to respond, he encountered a male, identified as Wolfe, driving Clark’s pickup truck. Wolfe reportedly refused to stop, and a pursuit followed. The pursuit was terminated after Sheriff Degase determined it as not being safe to proceed. Wolfe was arrested the next day after crashing the truck.
Wolfe reportedly attempted to create an alibi defense to Sheriff Degase, leading to the discovery of the murder weapon. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab was able to tie the weapon to a shell casing recovered by the sheriff at the scene of the murder.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office also received technical assistance in the investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control. In addition, special assistance in the field of entomology was provided by Dr. Timothy Harrington of Concordia University in Seward, Neb.
The sentencing hearing is currently set for Oct. 8. Wolfe, who has a lengthy criminal history with previous stays in prison, faces the possibility of being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murder charge.
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