On August 7, 2017, Clinton Police Officer Gary Michael was brutally gunned down in the line of duty after making a traffic stop.
Henry County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Shields has charged Ian McCarthy with murder in the first degree in Officer Michael’s death. He is set for trial early next year and the State is seeking the death penalty in that case.
Prosecutor Shields charged others with assisting McCarthy after the shooting, including William G. Noble of Clinton. He was charged with fraudulent purchase of a firearm, hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and three counts of endangering the welfare of his children.
Mr. Noble agreed that if the State would dismiss the endangering welfare of a child charges, he would plead guilty to the other charges with no agreement as to a sentence.
On March 21, 2019 Noble admitted under oath that about two years before the murder of Officer Michael, he purchased an AR-15 assault rifle for Ian McCarthy, knowing that McCarthy could not purchase the rifle for himself because of his status as a convicted felon. He also admitted that after McCarthy murdered Officer Michael, he hid McCarthy out in his home in Clinton and then a short time later disposed of the murder weapon by throwing it into a strip pit near Clinton.
Noble had requested a change of judge and change of venue which was granted. The case was assigned to Judge Kevin Harrell in Jackson County. On May 30 a sentencing hearing was held before Judge Harrell. Prosecutor Shields urged the judge to sentenced Nobel to the maximum terms of 4 years each to be served consecutively for a total of 12 years. Shields cited the thousands of man-hours spent by several law enforcement agencies searching for McCarthy in and around Clinton while Noble gave him quarter and then lied to officers repeatedly about his knowledge.
Prosecutor Shields explained to the judge that Noble knew McCarthy had been convicted of violent felonies in another state, but purchased an assault rifle for him anyway. It was also noted that Noble put his own children in danger by hiding the cop killer in his home with his children present and then threw the evidence into a strip pit.
Despite the pleas of the prosecutor to the judge to punish Noble for his role in helping McCarthy, Judge Harrell gave Noble the lowest possible outcome, giving him a suspended imposition of sentence with only three years of probation. With earned compliance credits, Noble could be on probation for just a year and a half and not have a record of a conviction. Prosecutor Shields said he had hoped that Noble would have much more accountability and was deeply disappointed in the outcome and was puzzled by it.
He recalled that Jacob Johnson, who had pleaded guilty several months ago to a single charge for giving McCarthy a ride out of town received the maximum sentence by a Pettis County judge for his role.
Prosecutor Shields noted that several of Officer Michael’s family members and brother police officers from Clinton PD and several other agencies were present for the sentencing. They were similarly disappointed.
