Court documents unsealed in Boone County double murder case
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Investigators believe a Callaway County man on the run from two murder charges strangled his girlfriend and drowned her daughter in a bathtub at their Boone County home, according to court documents.
In documents detailing the two first-degree murder charges against JT McLean, police say a witness, a supermarket receipt and neighborhood surveillance videos connect McLean to the scene where Allison Abitz, 43, and her daughter, Jozee Abitz, 11, were found dead in their home just south of Columbia on Aug. 22.
The documents were unsealed Monday.
A witness told authorities that McLean, Allison Abitz's long-time boyfriend, was at Abitz's house on Lavender Drive south of Columbia the night before Abitz was found dead. Investigators paired a receipt from Hy-Vee at Abitz's house with surveillance from the store and Abitz's neighborhood to establish that McLean was at the house the night before the Abitzes bodies were found, according to a probable cause statement.
Neighborhood surveillance video shows McLean's car, a black Lexus coupe, leaving Abitz's house the morning the Fulton elementary teacher and her daughter were found dead, according to the statement.
Boone County prosecutors charged with two counts of first-degree murder last week.
McLean's bond is set at $1 million. He is not yet in custody.
The probable cause statement says McLean's cellphone was last active the day before the Abitzes were found. Investigators later found McLean's vehicle at a Callaway County residence, the statement says. They also found a burn pile with the remains of two Android phones, according to the statement. Investigators say they've been unable to contact McLean.
The Boone County Sheriff's Office posted an update to the case on social media Monday, saying McLean has "made efforts to disappear and limit his ability to be tracked." The sheriff's office included photos of McLean.
McLean has changed his name and goes by several names, the sheriff's department said, including John McLean, Steven Nagy and Steven McLean.
McLean is about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs about 210 pounds and has green eyes and brown hair. He may have grown his hair out, though he has shaved his head in the past, the sheriff's office said. His last address was on County Road 355 in Fulton, but McLean is an over-the-road truck driver with ties to Las Vegas, Chicago, St. Peters, Minn., Columbia and Fulton, the sheriff's office said.
Court documents show McLean was ordered to stay away from his ex-wife and child in August 2017.
