The Sheldon family is relieved that suspects in their parents' slaying are behind bars, but they also face the somber reality that it won’t bring their loved ones back.
The family of Bob and Ellen Sheldon was on hand Wednesday for Sheriff Archie Dunn’s news conference, where he announced the arrests. The Sheldons were killed in their home west of Carthage on Oct. 11.
On Thursday morning, Judge Richard Copeland arraigned Darren Winans, 21, of Jasper, and Matthew D. Laurin, 19, of Springfield, through video, according to court records. The two men pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree burglary in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Bob Sheldon Jr. of Webb City, the eldest son, gave his reaction to reporters who had gathered at the news conference Wednesday.
“They took away two excellent people, my parents,” Bob Sheldon Jr. said. “They were still relatively young, they had a lot left to live for and they were preparing to live. You don’t want to know what I’d say to these two people. They need to know they’d be safer in jail than out on the street and that’s all I have to say to that.”
Bob Sheldon Jr. has done most of the speaking for his brother, Danny Sheldon of Carthage, and two sisters, Cara Housh of Texas and Cheryl Waldbuesser of Jasper. He said the family has endured a lot, but the community has been there to help.
“The community’s been fantastic,” Bob Sheldon Jr. said. “There have been a few people hanging on and saying the sons have done it or the family’s guilty. Obviously now we’re totally vindicated and 99.9 percent of the community has been awesome, absolutely fantastic. They’ve been a tremendous support.”
The sheriff said two anonymous tips led them to the suspects. Bob Sheldon Jr. said he knew all along that the people who committed this crime would he found.
“I didn’t know if it would be today, tomorrow or next month, another year, 20 years, but I knew some day we would find them,” he said. “I never had a doubt.”
Danny Sheldon, who discovered his parents’ bodies, said he was relieved.
“I’m just thankful that this day came and they’ve got somebody,” Danny Sheldon said. “It will help do some closure, it’s not going to bring my parents back, but I appreciate the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department for all their hard work and dedication that they put into this. Most agencies would have given up by now, but they persevered through this whole thing and I just want to say think you to them. It’s good to have them behind bars where they belong.”
