In the winter of 2018, the community of Moberly, Missouri, was shaken by the discovery of a grim scene that would unravel a story of robbery and murder. On the morning of December 29th, a suspicious vehicle parked between two local establishments, the Westside Inn and Bud's Place on Concannon Street, drew the attention of law enforcement. Inside, authorities would find the bodies of two men, both victims of a fatal encounter.
One of the men was identified as Darren Tharp, a 51-year-old male from Columbia.
The investigation into the deaths of Tharp and the other victim, 24-year-old Shane Hare, quickly determined that both men had died from single gunshot wounds to the head. As detectives pieced together the events leading to the double homicide, it became evident that the motive was a robbery aimed at obtaining methamphetamine. The Moberly Police Department, through surveillance footage and tips from the community, were able to identify four individuals connected to the crime.
Within days of the discovery, on January 1, 2019, authorities announced the arrests of four suspects. Christopher A. Esry, 20, of Madison, was identified as the shooter and faced two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Also charged were 40-year-old Aaron D. Bloss and 29-year-old Travis A. Koenig, both from Moberly, who each faced two counts of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. A fourth individual, 22-year-old Steven Bell of Moberly, was charged with tampering with physical evidence for his role in trying to conceal the crime by burning the clothes of one of the suspects and attempting to destroy Tharp's vehicle.
Court proceedings revealed that Esry had orchestrated the robbery, allegedly coercing Bloss into participating by threatening his family. In April 2020, Christopher Esry pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Steven Bell also entered a guilty plea to tampering with evidence and received a four-year prison sentence for his involvement. The cases against Aaron Bloss and Travis Koenig continued to move through the legal system.
