On a Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 2015, the life of Nathaniel Steven Higgins, a 35-year-old male from Milo, Missouri, was tragically cut short in the small community of Wentworth. On September 26, 2015, Higgins was found deceased in the yard of a rural home, having suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his chest.
The investigation into the death quickly centered on a person of interest, Clinton Ross Blizzard, a 26-year-old with a history of legal troubles. Witnesses reported seeing a man they identified as Blizzard in a heated and threatening confrontation with Higgins. According to one account, Blizzard was seen displaying a handgun in an angry manner towards Higgins as he was attempting to leave in a vehicle. The witness stated that Blizzard then went back into the residence, only to emerge moments later and approach Higgins with the weapon.
Following the shooting, Blizzard allegedly fled the scene. A manhunt was initiated by law enforcement, who considered him to be armed and dangerous. He was located and apprehended three days later in Joplin after an off-duty Jasper County jailer recognized him in a store and alerted the police.
In the wake of his capture, Clinton Ross Blizzard was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the death of Nathaniel Steven Higgins. A judge subsequently ruled that there was enough evidence for Blizzard to stand trial on these charges, and a court date was set for December of that year.
