Friday, December 22, 2017

Alleged Cop Killer Waives preliminary hearing today in Henry County

Before he was charged with murder in the shooting of a Clinton police officer, 39-year-old Ian James McCarthy lived a largely solitary life marked with long periods of unemployment, run-ins with the law and violence.

When Officer Gary Michael pulled McCarthy over about 10:45 p.m. Aug 6th, McCarthy had warrants out for his arrest on weapons offenses — one in neighboring Johnson County and one in New Hampshire, where McCarthy spent most of his adult life, according to court records. At age 23, McCarthy had been convicted in a stabbing there.

In recent years, McCarthy never seemed to have a job, according to acquaintances in Clinton, passing his time playing video games, hunting and fishing, and collecting monthly payments from a trust fund.

Neighbors said they were surprised — but not shocked — in Aug. when authorities accused McCarthy of shooting Michael to death during the Sunday night traffic stop, touching off a two-day manhunt that ended with McCarthy’s arrest. They described a man with few friends, no apparent vocation and a temper.

McCarthy was scheduled for a preliminary hearing today but that was waived by the defendant. McCarthy is now set for arraignment in circuit court on Jan. 22nd.

While McCarthy mostly stayed off of law enforcement’s radar in Clinton, he had been arrested numerous times in New Hampshire, on charges of robbery and assault, along with traffic offenses. A 2011 warrant for his arrest on a weapons charge and other offenses was still active when he became a murder suspect in Clinton.

In 2001, a jury convicted McCarthy of stabbing a young man during a brawl in Manchester, N.H., leaving the victim with severe injuries to his neck, chest and stomach.

More recently, a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper reportedly found McCarthy with a .45-caliber Glock handgun in his waistband during a July 2015 traffic stop in Johnson County, Mo. As a felon, he would be committing a felony by carrying a firearm.

The trooper found McCarthy’s New Hampshire arrest warrants, but they didn’t require him to be extradited, according to court records.

In his report, the trooper noted McCarthy’s bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, writing that McCarthy told of spending time in prison in New Hampshire for the stabbing.

Johnson County prosecutors charged McCarthy with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a felony, and the court issued a warrant for his arrest in December 2015.

The warrant was still on the court docket when, police say, Officer Michael pulled McCarthy over for a registration violation and the shooting started.

After two days of searching, law enforcement officers found a wounded McCarthy walking along a highway near Truman Lake, about 16 miles from Clinton. He had been shot, according to the patrol.

Troopers arrested McCarthy, taking him first to a Kansas City hospital and then to the Henry County jail in Clinton.



Courtesy of KDKD Clinton





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