A Missouri man has been convicted of eight criminal charges in connection with the 2022 killings of two women in Qulin, bringing a long-running case to a guilty verdict.
Stephen T. Scott was found guilty by a Phelps County jury of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action related to the killings, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, another count of armed criminal action connected to the child-endangerment charge, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon.
The convictions stem from the December 4, 2022, deaths of Margaret Delcour and Wendy Rhodes. Evidence presented at trial showed that Scott had gone to a residence in Qulin with his then-girlfriend, Candace Gurley. Before the visit, he had taken a firearm from his grandmother in St. Charles County.
Investigators and prosecutors said Scott used that firearm during the confrontation at the residence, shooting Delcour and Rhodes three times each. Both women were killed. Two children were also inside the home at the time.
The case began in the early hours of December 4, 2022, when authorities responded to a report of a shooting at a residence on New Hampshire Street in Qulin. Deputies found two women dead from gunshot wounds, and Scott was later taken into custody in Dexter.
Following the killings, Scott was located at a Walmart in Dexter in the early morning hours. Investigators had been alerted to a suspicious person attempting to get into the store before it opened. The circumstances surrounding his arrest became one of the more unusual details in the case.
Earlier court records and investigative information indicated that Scott told police he had been using methamphetamine and believed his life was in danger at the time of the shootings. That statement was part of the information investigators gathered after his arrest.
The recent verdict now establishes Scott’s criminal responsibility for the killings through the jury’s findings. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office, which was appointed as the conflict prosecutor in the case, said the Butler County Sheriff’s Department led the investigation with assistance from the Dexter Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said the verdict provides a measure of justice for Delcour and Rhodes and holds Scott accountable for the deaths.
The case had remained pending for several years before the recent trial. With the guilty verdicts now entered, the next major step in the case is sentencing.
