An arrest has been made for the murders of Dennis and Mary Lewis, according to a press release from Dent County Sheriff Rick Stallings.
Gary L. Stevens, 58, the brother of Mary Lewis, was taken into custody Friday afternoon by detectives with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Dent County Sheriff's Office at a residence in Holts Summit. Stevens was being transported to Dent County by the Highway Patrol Friday.
Formal charges are expected to be filed Saturday morning, according to Stallings. Further information will be available at that time.
Stevens arrived at the sheriff's department 6:30 p.m. Friday in a highway patrol marked vehicle. He was removed from the front seat of the vehicle, escorted into the sheriff's department by highway patrolmen Kyle Wilmont and Ralicia Feuerborn and booked. Stevens, handcuffed and in leg irons, was wearing a red hoodie and jeans and showed no signs of emotion.
The Dent County husband and wife died of gunshot wounds to the head sometime Tuesday, according to reports from Stallings and Coroner Gina White.
White said a preliminary autopsy report indicated that Dennis Lewis, 57, died from three gunshot wounds to the head. Mary L. Lewis, 50, died from one gunshot wound to the head.
Dr. Sandomirsky conducted the autopsy Wednesday at the Boone County Medical Examiner's office at the University of Missouri Columbia Hospital, according to a report from White.
Stallings said detectives Wayne Becker and Rich Piatt attended the autopsy.
The Lewises were shot at their Dent County home on county road 2240, which runs west off of Highway 72 near Salem Memorial District Hospital. It was the home where Dennis was born and raised.
There was no sign of forced entry, Stallings said.
Stallings said Wednesday that the Lewises had been dead approximately 10 hours before a friend found them inside their rural Dent County home. The friend was checking on their welfare after a family member could not reach them by telephone.
Stallings said earlier in the week that the sheriff's department had a "person of interest" to talk to about the murder. This "person of interest" was determined "through the investigation" of the murder, Stallings said.
The Lewises' disabled daughter, Jennifer, was home at the time. She was taken to Salem Memorial District Hospital and checked out for dehydration, the sheriff said. She was released to her brother.
White pronounced the couple dead at 5:50 p.m. at their residence at 2342 Dent County Road 2240, which intersects with Dent County Road 2270 off of Highway 72.
Stallings said a friend of the couple notified the sheriff's office at 5 p.m. The friend went to the residence to check on the well-being of the two at the request of a family member who could not reach them by telephone.
Assisting the sheriff's office is the State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control.
Stallings said the home was released Wednesday to Wilma Goetges, Dennis Lewis' mother, and owner of the house.
The couple's neighbors and friends were taking care of the cattle, including a calving heifer.
It was a quiet scene outside the home Wednesday morning, including a brown and white dog wandering around the back yard, a crowing rooster and several rabbits.
There were also bales of hay ready to be put up or delivered to livestock.
