It was not until after he'd fired the shot and retreated to the bathroom of the room and a Joplin Police Department special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team shot a 'flash bang,' or percussive device, into the room that he realized it was police and not the Honkies at his door. 'I just fired blindly.'įitchpatrick claimed that he never heard the officers identify themselves while they made several attempts to enter the room, including multiple blows to the door with a ramming device. 'How did you know where to fire?' Fleischaker asked. Murray had testified on Monday that he saw Fitchpatrick standing in the room and swinging the gun toward the window just as he was shot. He said he never saw Murray in the window frame as the deputy reached in to pull the curtains aside. 'The window broke and I fired a shot,' he testified. He told jurors he had just two bullets in the gun with which to defend himself. He said she'd left the room earlier that day, threatening 'repercussions' for him with the Joplin Honkies, a loosely knit gang with state prison system origins and white supremacist leanings. 'She didn't think you were giving her a fair share, or what?' Fleischaker asked him. Fitchpatrick said he'd had an argument over money the night before with the woman he referred to as his friend's 'play sister.' 'There for a while, it was different hotel every night,' he said.įitchpatrick told jurors that he had brought about 15 ounces of meth back from Texas to sell in Joplin about two weeks prior to the shooting of the deputy and was using an old prison buddy, the buddy's 'play sister' and a second woman to help him sell his stash. In the months leading up to the shooting of Murray, he was just moving from hotel to hotel selling drugs he'd bring back from Texas. He became a drug addict at an early age and has been in and out of prison all his adult life.

He subsequently moved away with her to Fulton to get away from his father.īut he began getting in trouble with the law when he was 9 or 10 and spent a good deal of his teenage years in the custody of juvenile authorities. He also was the son of an abusive father who he watched shoot and wound his mother when he was just 6 years old. He said he was more or less ostracized by both the blacks and the whites that he knew growing up. He claimed to have had a rough childhood, growing up in St. He testified that when he heard a knock on the door of his room at the motel and a member of the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team identify himself as a motel maintenance man in a ruse to get him to open the door, he figured something was up, set the methamphetamine he was peddling and a book bag containing $7,000 to $9,000 in drug-dealing proceeds in the bathroom of the room and grabbed his pistol.Īt that point, he did not think it was police but the Joplin Honkies who were at his door, he testified.įitchpatrick gave a brief account of his life under direct examination by his attorney, William Fleischaker. 'I thought somebody was coming to rob me,' Fitchpatrick told jurors when he took the witness stand in his own defense on the second day of a trial moved to Pineville from Newton County on a change of venue. deputy shot while serving warrant at motel At this Candlewood Suites® Joplin hotel, the perks we offer make us a great place to call a home away from home.Mo. Joplin wins over visitors with the city's old-time charm, and the hotel pleases guests with great amenities, such as free laundry facilities, a gazebo and a 24-Hour Fitness Center. Have fun shopping at the North Park Mall just a few miles from the hotel's front door. The Precious Moments Chapel and Museum, home to the famous figurines, is mere minutes from the hotel. Surrounded by numerous lakes, clear-water streams and natural beauty, we are certain you'll love it here. Joplin is a great place to relax and unwind. We also have a 700-sq-ft meeting space available on the hotel's ground floor. You can catch up with work using one of the Business Center's complimentary computers, fax machine or copier, or work from the comfort of a suite with free Internet access.

With the hotel's proximity to General Mills, CFI, Eagle Pitcher, St John's and Freeman Hospital, you'll make it to your meetings on time. Our long-term stay suites are equipped for people relocating or looking for an alternative to a lease in Joplin, MO. The hotel's location near major corporations, businesses and attractions puts guests in the center of it all. We strive to make your time in Joplin, MO stress free. The Candlewood Suites® Joplin hotel is the perfect option for those business or vacationing. Experience Our Hotel's Perks While in Joplin, MO.

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