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Shannon Co. Homicide Suspects Arrested In Arkansas

In the evening hours of May 10, troopers of the Missouri State Highway Patrol were called to assist the Shannon County Sheriff’s Department with an investigation in rural Shannon County near Eminence.
Responding officers determined an altercation led to the stabbing death of Clyde L. Wagner Jr., 47, of Winona.
During the investigation, two persons of interest were identified. Arrest warrants were obtained for the suspects by the Shannon County Sheriff’s Department.
Investigators developed information which led officers to a location in Fordyce, Ark.
On May 11, Arkansas authorities took both suspects into custody. Sammy L. Crabtree, 32, Mountain View, has been charged with murder in the second degree in Shannon County.
Robert E. Ballance, 38, Winona, has been charged with murder in the second degree and armed criminal action in Shannon County.
Both subjects are being held without bond in the Dallas County Jail in Fordyce, Ark. A trooper from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control has traveled to Arkansas to continue the investigation. Extradition proceedings are scheduled.
The charges for which Crabtree and Ballance were arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.