McDonald County, Mo. (KFSM) — A McDonald County resident has been charged for killing another man with a baseball bat over a rental dispute.
Bill Dobbs, McDonald County Prosecuting Attorney, says Clarence Anderson, 56, of Seneca, Missouri, has been charged with murder in the 2nd degree and armed criminal action resulting in the death of Joshua Collier of Neosho, Missouri as a result of blunt force trauma.
According to Dobbs, Collier was at Anderson’s home on April 19, 2019, speaking with him about renting an outbuilding on Anderson’s property. An argument then ensued, and Anderson armed with a baseball bat struck Collier while he was seated on his motorcycle.
Witnesses at the scene say they saw Anderson strike Collier in the head and body with the bat and that Collier fell to the ground.
Dobbs says Collier was lying injured on the ground until a woman named Kathy Kay removed him to the outbuilding at the center of the rental dispute, where Collier was described as “incoherent.”
Allegedly Collier was removed from the property the next day by Kay and others, and taken to his residence in Neosho, where he was later discovered and transported to a hospital in Joplin.
An autopsy showed Collier succumbed to the injuries he sustained from the assault.
Kathy Kay was also charged with hindering prosecution for her alleged role of failing to report the assault and removing Collier from the scene knowing of the nature and seriousness of his injuries, Dobbs says.
