On Halloween night of 2022, a tragic event unfolded in a Joplin, Missouri residence. Inside the home located at 2216 S. Annie Baxter Ave., police discovered the bodies of 35-year-old Stacy Rush and 35-year-old Eric Stampfli of Grove, Oklahoma. Both had been fatally shot. The subsequent investigation quickly identified the suspect as 34-year-old David L.
Rush, of Wyandotte, Oklahoma, who was Stacy's estranged husband.
Court records revealed that the violence erupted in the midst of domestic turmoil. Stacy Rush had filed for divorce from David in August of that year. A trial was scheduled to begin on the very morning of the day she was killed, but it was canceled after a proposed settlement was approved. This resolution, however, did not prevent the deadly confrontation that occurred later that day.
Following the discovery of the two victims, a search for David L. Rush was initiated. Two days later, he was located in Newton County after Oklahoma law enforcement pursued him into Missouri. The chase ended on a rural road where Rush exited his vehicle armed with a handgun. A standoff ensued, with deputies and officers from multiple agencies establishing a perimeter. For approximately three hours, negotiators, including Joplin Police detectives who spoke with him over the phone, attempted to de-escalate the situation. Despite their efforts, David L. Rush ultimately turned the gun on himself, ending his own life. The investigation concluded as a double homicide-suicide. Autopsies for Stacy Rush and Eric Stampfli were scheduled to be performed in Springfield.
