Sunday, July 10, 2016

3 appear in court on murder charges in death of Kansas man

From L to R: Elsie Coleman-Hamilton, Ronnie Carl Robinson and Larenzle Coleman. (Source: Sikeston DPS and VineLink)
SIKESTON, MO (KFVS) - Three people appeared in court on Thursday, July 7 on murder charges in connection to the death of a Kansas man.

The charges were read and they did not have representation. They will be back in court in a week.

The charges were upgraded on Wednesday, July 6 to murder against Elsie M. Coleman-Hamilton, 40, of North Little Rock, Ark., Ronnie Carl Robinson, Sr., 49, of Sikeston, Mo. and Larenzle M. Coleman, 35, of Oakfield, Tenn.

All three were charged with first degree murder, first degree robbery, first degree tampering with a motor vehicle and kidnapping in the death of Larry Weaver, who went missing from a Sikeston hotel and was found dead in a cotton field in New Madrid County.


 
Larenzle Coleman was arrested on July 2 at a home in Charleston, Mo., the same address where authorities say the Chevy Avalanche was found.

Coleman allegedly told investigators he was with Ronnie Robinson and Elsie Coleman when the motorcycle was stolen from the Days Inn in Sikeston early in the morning on June 27.

According to court documents, Larenzle Coleman told them they were all going to Poplar Bluff to steal a motorcycle from one of the hotels. On their way to Poplar Bluff, he told authorities they saw a black Harley parked at the Days Inn as they passed westbound on Highway 60.

Larenzle and Ronnie allegedly loaded the motorcycle onto the trailer and Weaver came of his hotel room and jumped on the trailer to keep them from leaving.

According to court documents, Ronnie pulled away with the motorcycle and Weaver on the trailer and headed west on Highway 60.

During the ride, Weaver allegedly got into the bed of the Avalanche; and banged and kicked on the glass allegedly telling them to stop.

Ronnie allegedly continued west and turned south onto Hwy. FF and then stopped at a dark place along the road and shut the truck off.

Larenzle Coleman told authorities he opened his door and yelled to Weaver to get out and run away.
Weaver allegedly got out and began walking south.
Ronnie allegedly got out of the driver's seat, ran towards Weaver and they began fighting. He allegedly punched Weaver several times. Weaver fell to his knees and had his arms wrapped around Ronnie's waist.

Ronnie allegedly began hitting Weaver repeatedly with his elbows and he eventually fell to the ground. Ronnie then allegedly stomped him in the mid-section several times.

According to court documents, Ronnie went back to the truck, grabbed some ropes and returned to tie Weaver up. He then allegedly pulled Weaver from the road into the cotton field and walked back to the truck.
Larenzle told authorities he could hear Weaver faintly saying "no" as he walked away.

According to court documents, Ronnie got back in the truck and drove toward Howardville. He allegedly told Larenzle to call they buyer so they could sell the motorcycle.

Larenzle told authorities they drove to Howardville, dropped the motorcycle off and dumped the trailer off at a house south of Howardville. He said they returned to the motorcycle and waited for the buyer to arrive.

According to court documents, the buyer arrived at 6 a.m. but the deal fell through, so they left the motorcycle roadside and Ronnie drove them back to Charleston.

Larenzle told authorities he had not seen the motorcycle or trailer since Monday morning, but believed Ronnie and Elsie most likely took it back to their property in the Little Rock area. He said a few days later, Elsie and Ronnie were back in Charleston with the Avalanche, so he believed they must have made the trip back to Little Rock. 

Homicide investigation underway
According to New Madrid County Coroner George Delisle, the autopsy was performed on Tuesday morning, July 5 in Farmington, Mo.
Delisle said the death was ruled "not a natural death" and is now a homicide investigation.
According to court documents, during the autopsy it was noted that three of Weaver's ribs were fractured, there was severe trauma to his head causing the top portion of his scalp to be missing and a subdural hematoma, which is usually the result of severe head trauma.

According to the doctor who performed the autopsy, Weaver died from a combination of the way he was tied up, the loss of blood from the injury to his head and the subdural hematoma, along with being left outside in the elements for an extended amount of time.
Larry Weaver was reported missing from Sikeston, Mo. on Tuesday, June 28 and was found dead in a cotton field in New Madrid County, Mo.

At around 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 2, an investigator with the SEMO Major Case Squad found an object in a cotton field about 70 feet west of Highway FF and about a half-mile south of Co. Road 820 in New Madrid County.

According to court documents, this was a driving distance of about 7 miles from the Sikeston hotel.

The helicopter crew landed and found a body, which was confirmed to be Larry Weaver, 66, of Pittsburg, Kansas.

Court documents state Weaver's body was found wearing a t-shirt, shorts and no socks or shoes. It stated he was tied up with two types of rope.
 
Weaver had been missing since at least Tuesday, and was last seen in Sikeston.

The major case squad was activated earlier on Thursday and a search crew was in the air searching all day.

According to Sikeston Department of Public Safety Chief Drew Juden, they searched a landfill in Dexter, Mo. on Wednesday, June 29, but they did not find anything.

Captain Jim McMillen said a plane and a helicopter have been used in the search. Officers also went back to the hotel to search the property for more clues.



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