OZARK, MO – The Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announces that on February 24, 2015, ROBERT W. BERRY, DOB: 12-28-1965, formerly of Sparta, MO pled guilty to assault in the first degree, armed criminal action, and burglary in the first degree, before the Honorable Senior Judge J. Miles Sweeney. Berry was set for jury trial on March 9, 2015.
On January 9, 2011 Robert Berry entered D.W.’s residence without permission armed with two firearms. Berry was waiting for D.W. inside the residence when she returned home from church and shot her multiple times in the head and upper body. After a struggle, D.W. was able to escape to a neighbor’s house for help. Berry’s prints were located on evidence collected at the scene.
Robert Berry fled the state and was arrested in Arkansas on January 13, 2011, following a brief pursuit by police. Investigators located women’s clothing, a woman’s wig, and an atlas inside the vehicle Berry was driving. In addition, Robert Berry had altered his appearance by shaving his head. Investigators also located a pair of blood stained blue jeans in the vehicle belonging to Berry that were submitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Lab in Springfield for DNA analysis. That analysis determined the blood on the jeans to be consistent with the victim.
The defendant is set for a sentencing hearing on May 7, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. The range in punishment for Count I: assault in the first degree is 10 years to 30 years of life in the Missouri Department of Corrections. In addition, the defendant must serve 85% of any sentence before being eligible for parole. The range in punishment for Count II: armed criminal action is a minimum of three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Under count III: burglary in the first degree the range of punishment is five to fifteen years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The maximum sentence the defendant could serve for the maximum term on each count and each count to be run consecutively to one another.
This case was investigated by the Christian County Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was handled by 1st Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kristen Tuohy and Prosecuting Attorney Amy Fite.