Two charged with murder in missing person case

Two people connected with the killing of Jon Williams were charged with first-degree murder, according to court documents filed in Moniteau County on Monday.

Suzanne Ponder and Sandy Gallaspie were linked to Williams’ murder when an inmate came forward at the end of June with information about where Williams’ body was buried in Cole County.

According to a news release from Moniteau County, the skeletal remains “have not been positively identified as of this date, but we are confident that they are the remains of Jon Williams.”

Gallaspie and Ponder allegedly lured Williams to a low water crossing on Mount Hope Road in Moniteau County in 2015 with promises of methamphetamine, according to the probable cause statement. The inmate claiming to be involved in the case said Gallaspie met Williams when he arrived at the creek and shot Williams in the chest.

Ponder originally told detectives she had nothing to do with Williams’ murder, but the inmate told police she had gone to a creek below Williams’ home to use meth with him around the time of the murder, court documents said. Ponder told police Williams stole some of her drugs.

Ponder allegedly stayed with Gallaspie while he was hiding from law enforcement after Williams’ body was found, court documents said.

Documents say the property where Gallaspie shot Williams was the property of Gallaspie’s former boss. Police said in the report Gallaspie’s boss was questioned, and the boss said Gallaspie and the inmate involved in the case were the only two people with keys to the property.

According to the documents, Gallaspie’s boss was on vacation at the time of the murder.

The inmate said in the probable cause statement that he got a tractor from his boss’s property and moved Williams’ body with it.

Ponder is being held in the Moniteau County Jail and is also charged with abandonment of a corpse in Cole County.

Gallaspie was previously arrested and charged with abandonment of a corpse in Cole County. Gallaspie had been arrested after a raid on the place he was staying.

According to a news release from Moniteau County, Gallaspie had made threats of being armed and dangerous before being arrested.