After two years in prison for allegedly shooting his wife’s lover, a Baptist pastor in Missouri’s Ozarks was granted a $30,000 bond.
According to Ozarks First, Matthew Dedmon, who is now 49 years old, fatally shot 57-year-old Joe Newburn multiple times in the torso on May 28, 2022, after he allegedly observed the latter with his wife in a vehicle outside the Iguana Roja Restaurant in the Ozark Courthouse Square Historic District. The outlet reported that Dedmon had suspected that Newburn was having an affair with his wife.
According to a Facebook post by the Ozark Police Department, Newburn passed away the following day at Cox South Hospital.
A charge of first-degree murder and armed criminal action was brought against the minister of Heritage Baptist Church. He was incarcerated without bond for two years.
Judge Laura Johnson wrote in September 2022 that releasing Dedmon on bond would subject the public to “grave danger.”
“The evidence indicates that the Defendant owned a loaded gun on the square in Ozark, outside a busy restaurant. The gun was discharged three to four times, resulting in the victim’s death.” Johnson wrote in her decision, which was obtained by Law & Crime, that this placed everyone on the square in grave peril. “There was evidence that this conduct was out of character for Defendant, which causes concern about Defendant’s decision-making and judgment.”
“The seriousness of the charge increases the risk that Defendant will not appear,” continued the prosecutor. “For these reasons, the Court will detain Defendant without bond.”
Dedmon’s attorneys and state attorneys engaged in a legal dispute for two years regarding a “motion to endorse” witnesses and discovery. Nevertheless, on October 1, the judge authorized Dedmon to post a $30,000 bond, on the condition that he don a GPS monitoring device and remain under house arrest.
Dedmon’s attorneys contended in a defense filing that the state’s tardiness in endorsing witnesses was a violation of their client’s constitutional rights, as stipulated in Missouri’s constitution. They were pursuing his release on bond.
“This case has been pending for more than two years.” Throughout that period, the defense counsel for the defendant has assiduously prepared the case for trial. The State filed its motion to endorse, [redacted], just as Counsel for the Defendant believed that depositions had been concluded (as she had deposed all endorsed witnesses) and the matter was finally ready to be set for trial.
“The Defendant is vehemently opposed to this motion to endorse.” Nevertheless, the Defendant argues that the State’s inexcusable act of late endorsements should result in the Defendant being granted release on bond, should the Court grant the State’s motion to endorse, in whole or in part. If allowed, this will inevitably cause a lengthy delay in the Defendant’s trial.
Kristen Tuohy, the prosecuting attorney for Christian County, was unavailable for immediate comment.
The pastor’s release was not indicated in the records of the Christian County Jail as of Wednesday morning. His attorney was unavailable for comment at the time.
According to his online obituary, the shooting victim, Newburn, was “always the neighbor that everyone wanted to know,” capable of “constructing a bicycle that was superior to Schwinn” and “constructing a hot rod that would one day compete in Nascar.” He is survived by two offspring and a “number of grandchildren.”
Ozarks First reports that Dedmon’s murder trial is scheduled to commence on March 3.