On the afternoon of June 4, 2014, authorities in Cass County, Missouri, were alerted to a grim discovery at Wills Cemetery in rural Peculiar. A witness had reported seeing a motionless figure on the grounds, prompting deputies to converge on the secluded location off South Thorngrove Road. Upon arrival, they found the body of a 25-year-old male, Forrest Fuller, lying near a vehicle. It was immediately apparent that the young man had met a violent end, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The remote nature of the crime scene led local officials to enlist the assistance of the Kansas City Metro Squad, a specialized task force that brings together investigators from surrounding agencies to solve major crimes.
As detectives worked to reconstruct the final moments of Fuller’s life, a breakthrough came from a tip provided by a 16-year-old girl. She revealed to investigators that two 18-year-old men, Tyler Smallwood and Mathew Volland, were involved in the incident. According to court documents later filed by prosecutors, the encounter had been arranged as a fistfight between Fuller and the suspects. However, the situation escalated when Smallwood allegedly brought a rifle to the meeting place. The investigation suggested that instead of a physical brawl, shots were fired, striking Fuller approximately six times before the suspects fled the scene and reportedly buried the weapon on property in Kansas City.
The ensuing legal proceedings yielded divergent outcomes for the two accused men. Mathew Volland pleaded guilty to charges of accessory to first-degree murder and armed criminal action, resulting in a thirty-year prison sentence handed down in June 2016. Conversely, Tyler Smallwood, who was facing first-degree murder charges, took his case to trial later that summer. His defense team argued that Smallwood had an alibi and was not present at the cemetery during the shooting. They also highlighted procedural errors, noting that investigators had lost potentially exonerating evidence, including a 911 recording and video footage of an alibi witness. After eight days of testimony and deliberation, a Cass County jury returned a verdict of not guilty, acquitting Smallwood of all charges connected to the death.
