Stephen Scott was found guilty on eight charges after prosecutors said two women were shot while two children were inside a home.

QULIN, Mo. — A Missouri man has been convicted of first-degree murder and six other offenses in the 2022 shooting deaths of Margaret Delcour and Wendy Rhodes, closing the trial phase of a case that began with an early-morning double homicide in a small Butler County community and ended with Scott’s arrest in nearby Dexter.

A Phelps County jury found Stephen T. Scott guilty Aug. 28 of eight charges stemming from the Dec. 4, 2022, killings, according to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. The verdicts included two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action tied to the killings, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, another count of armed criminal action associated with that offense, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon. A local report said Scott is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 3.

The convictions followed a prosecution built around what state officials described as a deadly visit to Rhodes’ residence. Prosecutors said Scott, who was 30 at the time, went to the home with his then-girlfriend, Candace Gurley. The attorney general’s office said Scott had obtained the gun before the visit by stealing it from his grandmother in St. Charles County. The state said he later used that firearm to shoot both Delcour and Rhodes three times. Two juveniles were inside the residence when the women were killed.

The case first became public in the hours after Butler County sheriff’s deputies were sent to the 100 block of New Hampshire Street in Qulin at about 1 a.m. Dec. 4, 2022. Sheriff Mark Dobbs told local radio station KWOC at the time that deputies had received a report of two people being shot. Responding officers found two women dead inside the residence with apparent gunshot wounds. Authorities initially withheld their names while investigators worked to establish what had happened and notify relatives.

Officials identified the victims the following day as Rhodes, 48, of Qulin, and Delcour, 36, of Broseley. A probable cause affidavit described by KWOC said a witness told investigators that Scott had been arguing with the women before he shot them. The account became an important early part of the prosecution’s chronology, although the later guilty verdict rested on the evidence presented at trial rather than the allegations contained in the charging documents alone.

The presence of children inside the home added another dimension to the criminal case. State officials said two juveniles were there during the killings, and reporting by Law&Crime, citing local television station KFVS, said a 7-year-old boy witnessed the shootings while his 4-year-old brother also was in the residence. The children have not been publicly identified in the reports reviewed for this story. Prosecutors ultimately secured a conviction for first-degree child endangerment as well as a related armed criminal action count.

Scott did not remain at the Qulin residence. Early reporting from the sheriff’s office said he was identified as a suspect and surrendered to police in Dexter later that Sunday morning. Law&Crime subsequently reported that police encountered Scott at a Walmart in Dexter after officers were called about a suspicious person who was trying to enter the store before it opened. That account placed his arrest at about 5 a.m. The Dexter Police Department later was credited by the attorney general’s office as one of the agencies that assisted with the investigation.

According to the probable cause material cited by Law&Crime, Scott told investigators after his arrest that he had been using methamphetamine and believed his life was in danger when he shot the women. The statement amounted to his reported account of the incident, not a finding by investigators or the jury. Prosecutors proceeded with first-degree murder charges, and the jury ultimately rejected any defense sufficient to avoid convictions on both murder counts after hearing the trial evidence.

The charging picture also changed as the case moved from its first days to trial. Immediately after the killings, the sheriff’s office announced two first-degree murder counts and armed criminal action. A subsequent local report listed two murder counts, four armed criminal action counts and separate allegations involving a child and weapons. The final set of guilty verdicts announced by the state was more specific: two murder counts, two armed criminal action counts associated with the killings, a child-endangerment count and its related armed criminal action count, plus unlawful use and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The prosecution was handled with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office serving as conflict prosecutor. The office said the Butler County Sheriff’s Department led the investigation with assistance from the Dexter Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant Attorneys General Corie Geary-Atkins and Melissa A. Pierce represented the state at trial, with additional support from Carl Schwartze and Carrie Boessen. Public Protection Section Chief Counsel Gregory M. Goodwin credited the combined work of investigators, prosecutors and local law enforcement in securing the verdicts.

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said after the verdict that it provided a measure of justice for Delcour and Rhodes and thanked the jury, judge and prosecution team. She said the outcome could not undo the harm caused by the killings but would hold Scott accountable. The state’s announcement identified the jury as being from Phelps County, correcting an inconsistency in some secondary coverage that described the panel as a Butler County jury.

The verdict came nearly four years after deputies entered the Qulin home and found Rhodes and Delcour dead. During that period, what began as a local homicide investigation moved through charging, preparation and a trial in which jurors heard evidence about the stolen firearm, Scott’s presence at the residence, the shootings and the children who were there. The guilty findings resolve the question of criminal liability at the trial level, but they do not complete the case because punishment has not yet been imposed.

Scott’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3, according to KWOC. No sentence had been imposed as of Oct. 17. The court will determine the punishment on the convictions at that stage, while the verdicts for the deaths of Delcour and Rhodes and the related child and weapons offenses remain in place.

Author note: Last updated October 17, 2026.