Carter Joshua Curtis admitted killing John McMurphy with a rifle inside an Adrian home in September 2024.

ADRIAN, Mo. — A Missouri man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting that he fatally shot his stepfather inside their family home, called 911 himself and surrendered without a struggle a block from the scene.

Carter Joshua Curtis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Bates County Circuit Court in early June, ending a case that had been headed toward a jury trial. Circuit Judge M. Brandon Baker imposed the 20-year sentence immediately after accepting the plea and credited Curtis with 613 days already spent in custody. Prosecutors dismissed an armed criminal action charge and reduced the original first-degree murder charge as part of the agreement.

The conviction resolved the criminal case against Curtis but left one of its central questions unanswered in the public record: why he said he “had to” kill 41-year-old John McMurphy. Police described no fight, threat or disturbance before the shooting in the probable cause statement used to support the original charges. The heavily redacted document records the actions of Curtis, McMurphy’s wife and responding officers, but it does not provide a clear motive. The guilty plea also meant prosecutors did not have to present their evidence at a public trial, where witnesses might have been questioned about the events leading to the gunshot. Curtis accepted responsibility for second-degree murder, which under Missouri law covers knowingly causing another person’s death or causing a death while intending serious physical injury.

The shooting occurred late Sept. 28, 2024, at a home on Eighth Street in Adrian, a small Bates County community south of Kansas City. At 11:23 p.m., Curtis called emergency dispatchers and reported that he had shot his father, according to the police statement. Officers from several law enforcement agencies began arriving within minutes. One officer said two women in the driveway were hysterical. A juvenile was also outside. As police approached the residence, someone shouted, “He has never been violent,” the officer wrote. The filing does not publicly identify that speaker or explain whether the comment referred to Curtis or someone else. Officers entered the home and saw McMurphy from the entryway, lying face down on the floor with a gunshot wound to his head.

Investigators recovered a Mossberg Patriot .308-caliber bolt-action rifle. Police said a spent cartridge case remained in its chamber and a magazine attached to the weapon contained no additional ammunition. The condition of the rifle became an important physical detail in the initial investigation because it was consistent with a shot having been fired and gave officers an item they could secure and examine. The probable cause statement did not describe additional gunfire, bullet damage elsewhere in the home or a second weapon. It also did not say whether investigators conducted gunshot residue, fingerprint or DNA testing. Such evidence may have been unnecessary to establish the identity of the shooter because Curtis called 911, acknowledged the shooting and was quickly taken into custody. No other person was accused of firing the rifle.

McMurphy’s wife told investigators that the sound of a gunshot woke her. She went into a hallway and found Curtis holding the rifle, according to her account summarized by police. Curtis handed the weapon to her and walked downstairs. As he left, he told her that he had already called 911 and “had to do it,” the statement says. She later went downstairs and found her husband face down near a table in the dining area. Police descriptions differ slightly on whether the exact location was best described as the kitchen or dining room, but both accounts place McMurphy on the lower level of the residence. Authorities said the fatal wound was to the back or rear area of his head. The public filing does not say whether McMurphy was seated, standing or moving when he was shot.

Officers located Curtis about one block from the home within minutes of their arrival. Police said he walked away slowly after handing over the rifle, and the arrest report does not describe a chase, physical resistance or confrontation. Curtis was jailed and initially charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. First-degree murder in Missouri generally requires proof that a person knowingly caused a death after deliberation. Armed criminal action applies when a felony is committed through the use or assistance of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors later agreed to a second-degree murder plea and dismissed the separate weapon count. That change removed the need for a trial on whether prosecutors could prove deliberation beyond a reasonable doubt and whether Curtis should receive an additional sentence for the firearm-related offense.

The resolution also fixed Curtis’ punishment at 20 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, subject to the terms of state sentencing and release laws. Missouri law treats second-degree murder as a serious felony and does not allow a court simply to place a person convicted of knowingly causing a death on ordinary probation. The 613-day credit recognizes the time Curtis remained confined while the case moved through the court system. That credit is applied toward the sentence rather than added to it. Public reports about the plea do not identify a specific parole hearing date or projected release date. A parole hearing, when legally available, would not guarantee release. The Missouri Parole Board considers the sentence, institutional conduct and other factors before making such decisions.

Curtis was represented by public defender Jeffrey Martin of Harrisonville. The available reports do not include a courtroom statement from Curtis, Martin, the prosecutor or members of McMurphy’s family. They also do not describe whether relatives submitted written or spoken victim-impact statements before Baker imposed the sentence. A guilty plea normally requires a judge to determine that a defendant understands the charge, the rights being surrendered and the possible punishment. By pleading guilty, Curtis gave up the right to have a jury decide the case, to confront prosecution witnesses and to require the state to prove every element of the accusation at trial. The court’s acceptance of the plea converted the allegation into a conviction and allowed sentencing to proceed without further fact-finding by jurors.

The outcome differed sharply from the exposure Curtis faced when the case began. Prosecutors first accused him of first-degree murder, the state’s most serious homicide charge, along with armed criminal action. The final judgment instead rests on second-degree murder alone. Plea agreements often narrow the issues in dispute and provide a definite result, but they can also limit the amount of evidence made public. In this case, no trial testimony established what occurred before 11:23 p.m., whether Curtis and McMurphy spoke immediately before the shooting or what Curtis meant by saying he had to act. The probable cause statement mentions no earlier emergency call from the home that night. It also does not describe a history of reported violence between the two men. Those matters remain unknown based on the records released publicly.

The case unfolded in Adrian, a rural western Missouri city connected to the Kansas City region by U.S. Route 71 and Interstate 49. A fatal shooting inside a residence brought officers from multiple agencies to an otherwise ordinary neighborhood late at night. The first officer’s account captures the confusion officers encountered: distressed women in the driveway, a juvenile outside, a shouted statement and a victim visible from the doorway. At the same time, the suspected shooter was no longer inside. Police had to secure the rifle, check the house, locate Curtis and separate witnesses whose accounts could become evidence. The emergency response moved quickly because Curtis had already identified himself to dispatchers and remained close to the home.

No further criminal trial is expected now that the plea and sentence have been entered. Curtis will serve his sentence under the authority of the Missouri Department of Corrections, with his previously served 613 days applied to the term. The public court record may still receive routine administrative entries, but the murder prosecution itself has reached judgment.

Author note: Last updated July 11, 2026.