Murder charge filed after elderly man found stabbed to death in Cole County

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Prosecutors have charged a Jefferson City woman with first-degree murder in the weekend stabbing death of an 80-year-old man.

Rejeane N. Redmon, 27, was charged Saturday with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and felony evidence tampering. Cole County deputies arrested her late Friday at a home in the 3200 block of Landing Creek Road in Cole County, south of Jefferson City.

Deputies were called to the home for an apparent homicide and found an 80-year-old man dead on the kitchen floor with stab wounds to his neck and body, according to a probable cause statement. The floor around him "had been crudely mopped with bleach," the statement says.

The Cole County Sheriff's Office identified the victim as Melvin Callahan.

The victim and Redmon both lived at the home. The statement says Redmon, who goes by Regina, is Callahan's stepdaughter.

Redmon told deputies that she was in the shower and heard four male voices and saw a man wearing a black mask, according to the statement. She was dry and fully dressed and had globs of semi-dried shampoo in her hair when deputies arrived, the statement says. The shampoo looked like it had never been wet, according to the statement.

Her story frequently changed during interrogation, investigators say.

Redmon smelled like bleach and continually referenced the shampoo, which looked as if it had been put on dry hair, as proof that she had been in the shower, the statement says.

Redmon told investigators she didn't call 911 because she didn't have a cellphone but the statement says authorities found her standing outside a vehicle that had a cellphone in the seat when they arrived.

Investigators found a bloody knife outside Callahan's home, the report says.

Redmon's initial court hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Monday. She was jailed Monday without bond.