On Sunday, April 17, 2022, law enforcement officers in rural Warrensburg, Missouri, responded to a distress call reporting gunfire in the 100 block of Southeast 250 Road. Upon arriving at the scene, deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office discovered the body of 47-year-old Clifford Heffele. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second individual at the residence had also been shot but survived with non-life-threatening injuries and was subsequently transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The investigation into the homicide quickly led authorities to identify two primary suspects. Brandon L. Nodine, a 28-year-old resident of Warrensburg, was arrested and charged with a litany of felonies, including second-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree burglary, unlawful use of a weapon, and tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree. Nodine was held without bond following his arrest.
A second suspect, identified as Chevy Rashan Benton of Kansas City, was also taken into custody. Benton, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident but charged as an adult, faced even more severe accusations. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon. Like Nodine, Benton was ordered to be held without bond.
As the legal proceedings advanced through the spring and summer of 2022, both defendants entered pleas of not guilty. Brandon Nodine remained under the jurisdiction of the Johnson County Circuit Court, where a grand jury indicted him in late May. Meanwhile, Chevy Benton’s defense team successfully argued for a change of venue, resulting in his case being transferred to the neighboring Cass County Circuit Court.
