Moberly man pleads guilty to role in deadly robbery
MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Moberly man admitted to his role in a 2018 double homicide on Thursday.
Travis Koenig pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in a hearing on Zoom. Koenig is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 23, according to online court records.
Court documents in the case said the killings were the result of a botched drug deal.
Koenig is one of four men that prosecutors charged in connection with the deaths of Darren S. Tharp, 51, and Shane Austin Hare, 24.Â
Christopher Esry, Aaron Bloss and Koenig were all allegedly in a vehicle when they went to Bud’s Place to steal drugs from the victims.
Bloss told investigators that Christopher Esry shot the men to death during a methamphetamine deal outside Bud's Place. Bloss told investigators that Esry had planned to rob Tharp and Hare at gunpoint.
Esry pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder earlier this month and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Another defendant in the case, Steven Bell, pleaded guilty in September to tampering with evidence and was sentenced to four years in prison without parole.
