On the evening of March 12, 2025, authorities in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, were dispatched to a residence in the 200 block of Woods Avenue following a distressing call from a family member requesting a welfare check. At approximately 8:39 p.m., officers arrived at the home to find it secured from the inside. Upon forcing entry to ensure the safety of the occupants, police discovered a tragic scene involving two deceased individuals.
Inside the living room lay the body of 33-year-old White male Dare Michael David Kinney, who had suffered fatal injuries.
The subsequent investigation by the Excelsior Springs Police Department and the medical examiner’s office revealed that the death was the result of a murder-suicide. Detectives determined that Kinney had been killed by his roommate and cousin, 31-year-old Chad Daniel Wooten. The autopsy report indicated that Kinney sustained multiple traumatic wounds, including a gunshot and numerous stab wounds. Investigators noted that there were no signs of a struggle in the living room and that Kinney appeared not to have moved from his seated position, suggesting the attack happened rapidly. The sequence of injuries could not be conclusively determined, though police theorized the gunshot likely occurred first.
Following the attack on his cousin, Wooten retreated to his bedroom where he took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No suicide note was recovered from the scene, and toxicology results were pending at the time the investigation concluded. Interviews with family members disclosed that while both men had struggled with depression in the past, they were close friends and fellow military veterans who had lived together for several years without any history of serious conflict.
Because the sole suspect in the homicide, Chad Wooten, died at the scene, there were no arrests made, nor were there any charges filed or trials held in connection with the case. Law enforcement officials stated they were not seeking any other suspects and considered the matter an isolated domestic incident. Dare Kinney was remembered as a skilled journeyman carpenter and custom stone builder who had served in the United States Army before returning to civilian life.
