In the early morning hours of July 4, 1990, police officers in Saint-John, Missouri, were dispatched to a residence in the 3700 block of Eminence Boulevard following a report of a deceased individual. Upon arrival, authorities discovered the body of 44-year-old Thomas Frederick Lannert inside his home. The victim, a male, had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. Investigators determined that he had been shot twice with a rifle while sleeping on his living room couch—once in the shoulder and a second, fatal shot to the head. The initial scene suggested a violent intrusion, but the investigation quickly turned inward toward the members of the household.
Detectives focused their attention on the victim's two daughters, 18-year-old Stacey Ann Lannert and her 14-year-old sister, Christy. During questioning, inconsistencies in their stories began to emerge. Although Stacey initially claimed she had returned home to find her father dead, she eventually confessed to the shooting. According to her account, she and her sister had entered the home through a basement window. Stacey retrieved a rifle, approached her sleeping father, and pulled the trigger. When the first shot to the shoulder only wounded him and caused him to wake up in confusion, she fired the second shot that ended his life. She then attempted to dispose of the weapon with the help of a friend.
The investigation uncovered complex motives and conflicting narratives. Prosecutors alleged that the killing was driven by financial greed, citing evidence that Stacey had been forging checks on her father's account, using his credit cards, and stood to inherit an estate valued at over $100,000. Authorities also discovered that the sisters had previously attempted to hire a hitman, identified as Ronald Barnett, to carry out the murder. Barnett was later arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence for selling the rifle Stacey had provided him. Conversely, the defense presented a harrowing history of family violence, asserting that Thomas Lannert had subjected Stacey to years of severe sexual and physical abuse since she was eight years old, and that the abuse had recently extended to her younger sister.
Legal proceedings followed for both sisters. Christy Lannert pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and was sentenced to five years in prison, of which she served two and a half years before being released. Stacey Lannert faced trial in 1992, where the jury convicted her of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Under Missouri law at the time, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Years later, her case received renewed attention regarding the allegations of abuse that precipitated the crime. In January 2009, outgoing Missouri Governor Matt Blunt commuted her sentence after an extensive review, citing the substantial history of abuse she had endured. She was subsequently released from prison later that month.
