Johnetta Marie Yeager, a 51-year-old White woman from Versailles, Missouri, was a soil and water conservationist who worked at the Morgan County USDA Service Center. Away from work, she was remembered as a devoted mother to her daughters, Sydney and Kynzie, an active 4-H volunteer, a member of Versailles First Assembly of God Church, and someone who enjoyed gardening, thrift shopping, photography, and spending time with family and friends. Her ordinary Monday workday on September 22, 2025, turned deadly shortly after she arrived at the USDA office on South Burke Street in Versailles.
Shortly before 7:30 that morning, surveillance cameras in the area recorded activity that investigators later used to reconstruct the shooting. Court documents said a person associated by investigators with Robert J. Anselmo, Yeager’s former romantic partner, was seen near the USDA building wearing a distinctive pink-and-orange hooded sweatshirt.
Yeager’s SUV entered the parking lot minutes later. A witness reported seeing Yeager sitting in her vehicle with the driver’s door open, then hearing a gunshot after a person passed near the front of the building. Surveillance footage cited in the probable-cause statement allegedly showed the person approaching Yeager’s SUV, raising an arm toward her head in a manner consistent with firing a handgun, and then leaving the immediate area.
Versailles police were dispatched at approximately 7:34 a.m. to the USDA property at 100 South Burke Street. Officers found Yeager’s black GMC Terrain in the parking lot with the driver’s door open. She was unresponsive and positioned in a way that investigators believed suggested she had been attempting to get out of the vehicle when she was shot. Authorities observed what appeared to be a gunshot wound to her face or head. The suspected shooter had already fled, with reports describing the person as wearing the pink-and-orange sweatshirt along with a mask, gloves and sunglasses.
Emergency personnel transported Yeager by ambulance to Lake Regional Hospital and then transferred her to University Hospital in Columbia because of the severity of her injuries. Medical imaging reportedly revealed fragments consistent with bullet fragments in her head. Despite efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead at approximately 4:50 p.m. on September 22, several hours after the shooting.
Investigators began collecting surveillance recordings from several businesses and organizations around the area, including cameras associated with Nutra Ag, Garber Diesel, the Versailles Fire Department and the Morgan County Food Pantry. Those recordings reportedly captured a black four-door pickup with a camper shell traveling through the area before and after the shooting and showed a person dressed similarly to the individual seen near Yeager’s vehicle. One camera allegedly captured the person extending an arm toward Yeager’s head before leaving around the side of the USDA building. Investigators said additional footage showed the suspect vehicle departing the area immediately afterward.
The investigation quickly focused on Robert J. Anselmo. Court records showed that Yeager had recently sought an ex parte order of protection against Anselmo and that the two were involved in an ongoing civil dispute, with another hearing scheduled for September 29. Authorities described Anselmo as Yeager’s former partner. Although those circumstances became an important part of the probable-cause case against him, early reporting said authorities had not formally announced a motive for the killing.
Later on September 22, investigators went to a residence outside Eldon and observed a black 2003 Chevrolet Silverado extended-cab pickup with a camper shell that they said was consistent with the vehicle recorded near the shooting scene. The truck carried Illinois plates tied through records to Anselmo and another individual. Investigators eventually seized the truck and reported finding fibers inside that were similar in color to the distinctive sweatshirt seen on surveillance footage. They also recovered an iPhone near the vehicle, and investigators said location information associated with the device was consistent with the movements of the suspect vehicle before, during and after the shooting. Clothing taken from Anselmo was also compared with what appeared in the recordings. Investigators additionally interviewed his employer, who reportedly said Anselmo did not arrive at work in Columbia until about 9 a.m.; police cited that information as consistent with their investigative timeline.
Anselmo was arrested in Miller County at approximately 6 p.m. on the same day Yeager was shot and was booked into the Morgan County jail that evening. Prosecutors subsequently charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. At his initial arraignment, Anselmo pleaded not guilty. He sought a reduction from the no-bond detention order, indicating that he could post a $5,000 bond, but the court declined to release him after considering victim input and public-safety concerns. Authorities and subsequent news reports identified Anselmo as the sole suspect charged in Yeager’s killing; no second suspect has been publicly identified in the available reporting.
The criminal case continued into 2026. On February 9, Anselmo again pleaded not guilty as the case moved forward, and a judge granted the defense request to move the trial out of Morgan County and into Moniteau County. At that stage he was still being held without bond. The court later scheduled a five-day jury trial to begin November 2, 2026, with a pretrial proceeding scheduled for August 14. A separate wrongful-death action had also been filed against Anselmo while the criminal prosecution was pending. The latest publicly available reports located do not document a conviction or acquittal, leaving the first-degree murder and armed criminal action allegations unresolved and awaiting trial.
