Zeller, a retired minister of the Grace Christian Tabernacle in Harrisonville, was found dead in his home in the 400 block of Peyton Street by a family member. He had been shot twice in the office of his residence. Officials said Zeller’s home had been broken into and several rooms had been ransacked.
Zeller’s truck was also stolen. It was discovered around 5 p.m. Jan. 17 near the intersection of 223rd Street and Thorngrove, south of Peculiar.
The four adults arrested — Stacy M. Zeller-Holmquest, Belton, Zeller’s granddaughter; Veronica Villanueva, 25, Raytown, Zeller-Holmquest’s friend; Elvis J. Thornton, 37, Kansas City, Villanueva’s boyfriend; and Regis Rummans, 17, Raytown, a friend of the juvenile involved — have been charged with first-degree murder.
A 16-year-old male juvenile has also been arrested, but law enforcement officials are not releasing information as to his charges at this time.
At a press conference Monday, Cass County Prosecuting Attorney Teresa Hensley stated the motive behind the murder appears to be money.
According to court documents, Zeller-Holmquest told the suspects about two weeks before the murder that her grandfather was “rich and had $12 million in a floor safe in his residence and she needed someone to rob her grandfather, and she needed him ‘gone.’”
Hensley said Zeller-Holmquest’s role in the murder consisted of driving the others involved around Harrisonville and showing them her grandfather’s house.
The court document also states that Zeller-Holmquest pointed out the house of another Harrisonville resident whom she claimed was wealthy.
Harrisonville Police Det. Sgt. Doug Catron said police do know the owner of the second residence that Zeller-Holmquest pointed out as being “wealthy.” However, Catron said police have not had time to contact the owner and are not releasing information about the Harrisonville resident until contact has been made.
The documents state that the night of the crime, Jan. 16, Villanueva, Thornton, Rummans and the juvenile drove to Zeller’s neighborhood. Rummans and the juvenile exited the vehicle and entered Zeller’s residence by shattering the glass portion of the front door with a sledgehammer.
The two suspects used a BB hand gun to threaten and control the victim.
“...they took the victim to the office area, where the juvenile suspect cut the carpet while Rummans kept a lookout at the front door. The victim then retrieved approximately $350 in cash and gave it to the juvenile suspect,” the document states.
According to court documents, the suspects then took Zeller to the basement where Zeller opened a different safe. The suspects removed several guns and some coins from the safe.
“The guns were loaded into the victim’s truck, which was located in the garage, and the victim gave the juvenile suspect the keys to the truck,” according to the document.
The document states that Rummans and the juvenile drove Zeller’s truck to Peculiar, where they met with Thornton and Villanueva at the Flying J Travel Plaza. Villanueva then followed Rummans and the juvenile to a rural Peculiar country road where they allegedly unloaded the guns into Villanueva’s vehicle and left Zeller’s truck.
The document states Thornton kept the guns and a portion of the cash when he dropped off Rummans, Villanueva and the juvenile. Thornton allegedly stated he would take the weapons to his brother in Arkansas and sell them.
During the press conference, Hensley said she could not give information about the shooter. However, court documents allege the juvenile shot Zeller.
“On the trip back to Raytown, juvenile suspect became sick to his stomach,” the document states. “When asked what was wrong, juvenile suspect replied that he had ‘iced him twice,’ referring to the victim.”
Hensley said it will be up to the juvenile office as to whether the 16-year-old suspect will be certified to stand trail as an adult. However, if he is certified as an adult “we will certainly prosecute the juvenile as an adult with first-degree murder,” she said.
Hensley said she should know within two weeks as to whether the juvenile will be certified as an adult.
Catron, who is one of 18 members of the Metro Squad that investigated the homicide, said a hotline tip received Wednesday “was a vital call in assisting identifying persons connected with this incident, which caused other leads to be followed and ultimately our investigation to derive where we are today.”
Although Catron said he does not wish to comment on who made the call, the court document states the hotline call came from Villanueva’s aunt, who Villanueva called on Wednesday to talk to “about the situation.”
Asked if additional arrests are expected, Hensley said Monday she believes that all of the suspects involved in the crime have been arrested.
“I believe we’re just cleaning up the loose ends,” she said. “I believe we have five people in custody and that we have those five people who are involved in this.”
Hensley stated that officials were looking into the possibility of the suspects being involved in other robberies. However, there is no evidence of that at this time.
“I want to emphasis that this is an ongoing investigation,” Hensley said. “We are only a week from the incident. We believe that there will be other evidence and things coming from the crime lab that are going to be important to us.”
Hensley said officials will notify the media of updates on the investigation.
Catron said Villanueva, Rummans and Zeller-Holmquest, who has had prior dealing with the law but none of this magnitude, were arraigned in Cass County Associate Circuit Court Monday afternoon. Thornton was arraigned Tuesday afternoon.
According to a spokesman in the Associate Circuit Clerk’s office, Villanueva, Rummans, Zeller-Holmquest and Thornton are scheduled to next appear Feb. 2. All suspects are being held without bond in the Cass County Jail.