On the evening of August 13, 2019, in a home situated west of Great Bend, Kansas, the life of 34-year-old Charles G. Rousey was tragically cut short. Authorities were alerted to a disturbance at a residence at 398 Grove Terrace near the airport at 8:36 p.m., with reports of shots being fired. Responding to the urgent call, deputies from the Barton County Sheriff's Office, along with members of the Kansas Highway Patrol, arrived at the scene to a grim discovery.
At the rear of the building, they found the body of Charles Rousey, a white male, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. As the investigation into the homicide commenced, law enforcement officers were able to quickly gather information from witnesses. This crucial information led them to issue an "attempt to locate" bulletin for a suspect, identified as 23-year-old Nicholas A. Pethel, who was from the rural Great Bend area.
Later that same night, a fortunate turn of events led to a break in the case. Members of the Great Bend Fire Department, who were returning from an unrelated incident, had heard the broadcast about the suspect and the vehicle he was driving. They spotted the vehicle on South Main Street in Great Bend and promptly notified 911 dispatchers. This vital tip allowed law enforcement to close in.
Officers from the Barton County Sheriff's Office and the Great Bend Police Department converged on the area and conducted a traffic stop on the suspect's vehicle on Railroad Avenue, between Washington and Main. Nicholas A. Pethel was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Barton County Jail. He was subsequently booked on a charge of first-degree murder, with his bond set at $1 million. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation was brought in to assist the Barton County Sheriff's Office with the ongoing homicide investigation, and the case was forwarded to the Barton County Attorney's office for review.
