Osage County Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Grellner and Special Prosecuting Attorney Richard Callahan on Friday outlined the evidence against Warren M. Taylor, 62, of Chamois, who has been charged with two counts each of murder in the first degree, and armed criminal action in the July 23 deaths of Chamois residents Leonard Gerloff, 59, and his wife, Pauline, 56.

Allen Starke told the court that he went to his mother and stepfather’s house on Muddy Water Lane at about noon on Saturday, July 24, where he discovered the bodies of Leonard and Pauline in the yard. Starke’s father, Rick, called 911 and they awaited the arrival of law enforcement officers.

The Gerloff’s truck was parked in front of the house as usual.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC) Master Sgt. Marcus Reynolds testified that he had been present at hundreds of homicides in his career, and with ongoing training in the collection of evidence, said he can generally tell when the death happened recently. He noted that marbling and slippage of the skin led him to conclude that death had taken place an extended period of time before the discovery of the bodies as decomposition had set in.

Defense attorney Blake Fischer of the Carlson Law Firm of Union asked when he first met Taylor.

Reynolds testified that he had first gone to the scene and met with deputies from the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, and later, between 7 and 8 p.m., met Taylor at Twist A Top, a bar owned by the defendant.

“We had a brief talk there, and I asked if he would be willing to go to the sheriff’s office for an interview,” said Reynolds.

Taylor agreed and was transported by a deputy to the Osage County Jail, where his recorded interview took place.

Reynolds noted that Taylor indicated he and the Gerloffs had been friends, then brought up some things in the past that may indicate why other people would want to hurt them.

According to Reynolds’ testimony, Taylor denied being involved in the murder and said he was at the Twist Top bar with his truck, and that Dee, Chad, and Cody Helmig saw him there. Further, Reynolds testified that Taylor said he was the only person that drove his truck, indicating that no one else had access, gesturing to the keys in his pocket.

Taylor said he left the bar between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m. on July 23, the night before the bodies were discovered.

Reynolds said Taylor asked why he was being investigated, and provided the Helmings as an alibi, claiming they were at the bar when he left.

However, in her testimony, Dee Helming told the court a different story.

A lifelong resident of Chamois, she described Jeanne Hawkins, Taylor’s girlfriend, as her best friend. She agreed to work at the bar on July 23, and she and Hawkins were alone at the Twist A Top until Cody Helming and Taylor came in, the latter between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Dee’s husband, Chad, also came to the bar but there were no customers.

Dee said she was there all night but her son, Cody, had left a couple of times to look for friends, citing boredom as his reason for leaving. He left for good at about 8:30 p.m., or shortly before, Dee told the court. “He wanted to go home and watch wrestling,” she said.

As Dee headed to the restroom on the east end of the bar, she saw her son at the side door and stopped to talk to him.

“He asked me why Warren was leaving,” she said. “I saw Warren starting his truck.”

When asked where he was going, Taylor reportedly said he was headed home. “He said he had no friends, and I told him we were his friends,” Dee testified, adding he seemed hurt and sad when he left. “He got into his truck and left.”

Dee further testified that he headed south on Main Street and that his left blinker was on but she did not see where he turned.

This happened around 8:30, Dee said, noting it was still light enough to see some things. Taylor did not return to the bar, she said.

Dee Helming found out about the death of Leonard and Pauline Gerloff between 3 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 24 when Hawkins called to tell her. Helming was contacted by law enforcement at about midnight and told them the same story she offered in court.

Chamois resident Marcie Duncan, who has worked part-time at Roomerz Bar every other weekend for the last couple of years, described the community as tight-knit. “Everyone knows everyone,” she said, adding she knew Leonard Gerloff well.

He was known to come in regularly and was in the bar from 7:30 p.m. until he left about an hour later on Friday, July 23.

Duncan testified that his customary parking spot was behind the bar and that he routinely left through the back door. He arrived and left alone that night.

Normally, Duncan said, patrons who park behind the bar take back streets to Hwy. 89 North. “It’s not unusual for people to not take Main Street,” she added.

As previously reported in the UD, a neighborhood canvass led to the discovery of a video surveillance system at a nearby residence, which showed that Leonard Gerloff had pulled into his driveway at about 8:34 p.m. on Friday, July 23. At approximately 9:01, an unknown Chevy truck pulled into the driveway, and a short time later, the same vehicle made what appeared to be a hasty retreat.

While the infrared nature of the video system did not capture the color of the vehicle, investigators noted the truck was equipped with cab lights across the top of the roof.

Mallory Backman testified that she and her mother, Denise Nolte, were traveling on Hwy. 89 North, near the area of Muddy Water Lane at about 9:10 p.m. when a truck was leaving the area. 

Backman noted the truck was red and had pulled out in front of her, and she did not believe it was going to stop at the intersection with the highway. She was forced to veer left to avoid a collision. 

“It scared me,” said Backman. “I thought we’d be hit.”

The truck then traveled behind her, tailgating, and Backman made a left turn onto a county road as she was taking her mother home.

She looked back and to her left and saw the truck passing by. Backman told the court she did not see a passenger in the truck, and she positively identified Taylor as the driver based on the truck’s features as well as his white hair and beard. “There was no doubt it was him,” she said.

When asked by the defense how she knew it was Taylor’s truck, Backman said there are two red Chevy Silverado trucks in the area, one belonging to Taylor, the other to Sean Hackmann. The main difference, she noted, is that Hackmann’s truck is usually covered with dirt and has a silver toolbox in the bed, while Taylor’s truck was usually clean and did not have a toolbox.

“I see them both often around town,” Backman testified, identifying Taylor’s truck from a photograph entered into evidence.

She added that Taylor was reckless and driving fast. “It was like he didn’t see us,” she said.

Regarding the nature of the relationship between Taylor and the Gerloffs, Backman said they were on-again, off-again friends.

Mark Lieneke, who farms land on CR 274A, testified that he had known Taylor for a while and that the defendant lived about a mile down the road from him.

Lieneke testified that he and his wife got to know Taylor and his late wife, Margaret when they owned a restaurant in Pershing.

Because of an injury to his wife, Lieneke said their vacation was cut short so he was working his farm on July 24 when he saw what he believed to be Taylor’s truck driving past his farm. He confirmed to the defense what Backman had said about the fact that Taylor’s truck does not have a toolbox in the back.

While it was unusual for Taylor to be that far up the road from his home, Lieneke testified that he didn’t have a reason to question it, and forgot about it until the next day.

He learned about the double murder later in the afternoon.

While at Jerry’s Stop & Go, on Sunday, July 25, he learned that Taylor was a suspect in the murder.

It wasn’t until the following Wednesday that Lieneke thought about the missing firearm.

“I had a wild thought that maybe the gun had been tossed in the creek,” said Lieneke of Shawnee Creek.

He decided to investigate and located the firearm in the middle of the creek on the north side of the new bridge.

At that point, Lieneke called the sheriff’s office and told the court he did not handle the weapon at any time.

DDCC Trooper Max Lawson testified that he received a call from the sheriff’s office and met deputies at the bridge over Shawnee Creek.

He said the gun had remained in the creek until he retrieved it, and verified the photographs in evidence fairly and accurately depicted the condition of the weapon.

One photograph showed a close-up of the gun, a brushed-nickel revolver with a black grip. The .357 Magnum was placed in a bucket containing creek water to preserve the original state of the weapon before it was tested.

Ballistics testing concluded that the bullet fragments taken from the bodies matched the weapon, proving that this handgun was used to kill Leonard and Pauline Gerloff.

DDCC Sgt. Darrin Haslag attended the autopsies on July 27 at the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office and confirmed on Friday that what he saw in photographs presented by the prosecution was accurate. He too upon initial examination of the bodies at the scene believed the deaths had occurred several hours before the discovery based on lividity and skin condition.

All Missouri DDCC witnesses testified that their reports were accurate and had not been altered.

Div. VI Judge David L. Hoven said he would take everything under advisement and issue a ruling in the near future.

Taylor is still being held without bond at the Osage County Jail.