The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published July 17, 2024

Armstrong charged with First Degree Murder

MORGAN COUNTY – A Morgan County man has been charged with First Degree Murder in the death of Beauford Wilson, 71, of Hallsville, MO.

On June 30, 2024, a call was received by Morgan County E-911 reporting an adult male found on his side against a tree, off the roadway adjacent to Beechnut Road south of Stover, in Morgan County.

Morgan County Deputy Sheriffs and EMS personnel responded to the scene and located Beauford Wilson, 71, of Hallsville, MO, deceased.

An autopsy was conducted on Tuesday, July 2, by the Greene County Medical Examiner in Springfield, MO.

The preliminary results of that autopsy revealed the presence of multiple gunshot wounds: one to his right calf, left arm and one to the head. The death of Wilson was ruled an intentional homicide.

Last Friday, Chad Lawrence Armstrong, 50, was charged in the murder.

The investigation also demonstrated the tracking abilities of cell phones and vehicles.

According to the Probable Cause Statement (PCS) once law enforcement and EMS arrived on the scene they discovered Wilson lying by a tree approximately 11 feet from Wilson’s blue Ford F150.

After obtaining a search warrant for the truck, a bullet hole was found in the left rear bed of the truck along with a 9mm shell casing.

Police believed that Wilson was murdered somewhere else and transported to the scene using his own truck and left where his body was found.

Police obtained another warrant, this time on Wilson’s cell phone. The last outgoing phone calls were checked and one of them was on June 29 a 9:59 a.m. to Armstrong that lasted 58 seconds.

The PCS stated that an initial conversation by police with Armstrong showed several inconsistencies in Armstrong’s story. They claimed that Armstrong changed his story on his whereabouts several times for the day on June 30.

Armstrong did confirm that the phone number called by Wilson on June 29 at 9:59 a.m. was his. He also claimed he lost his cell phone and was vague to police about finding it.

Police interviewed two others that knew Wilson and said he usually did not carry large amounts of cash with him but would sometimes carry $2,000 if he wanted to buy something because people are more willing to sell if cash is offered. Wilson’s wallet was not found.

Investigators checked to see if Wilson could have been killed on June 30 and per the autopsy results it was stated that he could have been killed as early as 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. on June 29.

This is where modern tracking data comes in.

Another warrant was issued for police to check the Ford Sync 4System data storage device from Wilson’s truck.

The data allegedly showed that Wilson’s truck was located at Armstrong’s residence on June 29 at 11:51 a.m. The next date on the system was on June 30 at 8:40 a.m. at the location where Wilson’s body was found. There was no movement of the vehicle between those times.

On July 2 investigators did an examination of Wilson’s Apple IPhone XR. The next day another search of data was conducted on the cell phone which revealed several things to police.

(Editor’s note: many cell phones, especially Apple phones, can and do track data including everywhere you go and even your movements, with or without you knowing it.)

Investigators found, according the PCS, that the last outgoing data packets (indicating phone use) was on July 29 at 11:52 a.m. one minute after the Ford data indicated it was at Armstrong’s residence.

There was no other activity on the cell phone after 11:52 a.m. (except incoming messages) for the next five hours. It remained that way until police seized the phone on June 30.

The IPhone can also tack the user’s activity, whether they are sitting, standing, walking and so on. Examination of that data showed that there was frequent and regular activity up until 12:01 p.m. on June 30, nine minutes after the last phone “use” was recorded.

No other activity took place until police seized the phone. Police say that means the phone was not “manipulated” during that period until police found it.

Armstrong claimed he last saw Wilson 10 days prior to July 4 when Wilson offered to buy Armstrong’s land. He also showed police security camera footage from his property but said the footage can be written over and the only footage available was after 3:30 p.m. on June 29 onward.

Armstrong also did not disclose receiving a phone call from Wilson that day or seeing his truck after the 10 days before July 4.

Another warrant was executed and police seized two security camera hard drives and Armstrong’s white Silverado truck. In the truck police said they found a spent 9mm shell casing. The PCS stated that Armstrong is a convicted felon and no allowed to own a gun.

Investigators conducted another interview with Armstrong on July 6 and he said he should have disclosed the phone call he received from Wilson on June 29. Also during this interview Armstrong could not state where he was in the morning and afternoon of June 30 just that he went to buy tires.

He also stated that on June 29 he was alone on his property burning trash, mowing and moving gravel and he would have noticed if Wilson’s blue truck was there.

When police told them about the GPS data from the truck showing it was there that day, Armstrong allegedly said he could not argue with that data.

Armstrong was charged with Murder First Degree and Armed Criminal Action, He is being held without bond