On December 16, 2023, 53-year-old Tina Lisa Skaggs was found dead in a residential yard along State Highway Y in Glen Allen, Bollinger County, Missouri, after deputies responded to reports of a shooting. She had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and an autopsy confirmed those wounds were the cause of death. At the scene Skaggs was holding a butcher knife, which the suspect later said he had given to her.

A 79-year-old neighbor, Terry Allen, was present when officers arrived and was detained and arrested. He was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action and held on a warrant without bond. Investigators reported a history of ongoing disputes between the two, including recent comments by Allen about harming Skaggs’ son over alleged property issues and statements about his right to shoot trespassers.

What did readers in Glen Allen notice in the weeks before December 16 that might explain how this dispute escalated to deadly violence?