On November 5, 2008, 30-year-old Cara Jo Roberts was in her Harrisonville, Missouri, home assembling a 'big boy' bed for her two-year-old son as a surprise. An intruder, later identified as Jeffrey Moreland, a former Grandview police officer, broke into her residence. He sexually assaulted her, bound her with duct tape, and forced her into a full bathtub where he shot her in the back of the head.
Her husband, Jeff, and their son, Carter, were not home at the time.
For nearly three years, the case remained unsolved, with investigators having DNA evidence and a fingerprint from the scene but no match. The community was left in fear, knowing a killer was at large. The Harrisonville Police Department requested the assistance of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and a reward of $35,000 was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
A break in the case came in 2011 when Moreland became a suspect in the murder of 75-year-old Nina Whitney in Kansas City. This new investigation allowed authorities to match his DNA to the evidence found at the Roberts crime scene. In addition to the Roberts and Whitney murders, Moreland was also facing a separate rape charge in Cass County.
In September 2013, a jury took just over an hour to find Jeffrey Moreland guilty of the first-degree murder of Cara Roberts. Prosecutors described the killing as an execution. During the trial, photos of Cara with her family, especially her young son, were displayed in the courtroom. In October 2013, the 54-year-old Moreland was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 50 years for armed criminal action. He later pleaded guilty to the murder of Nina Whitley.
