A former southwest Iowa man's body has been recovered in a murder mystery in Missouri. Harrison County Missouri Sheriff
Richard STRATTON says his office got an anonymous phone call about ten days ago indicating there was a body in a well in
the county. STRATTON says they had very little to go on, but were able to find and recover a body in a well on an
abandoned farm Saturday afternoon. The body has been identified as that of 40-year old Larry E. WHITE, who had at one
time lived in the Creston/Mount Ayr area.
STRATTON says they worked with Ringgold County Iowa authorities and were able
to make an arrest. 40-year old Pamela S. FOLEY is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action.
WHITE died
of a gunshot wound, but other details of the investigation are not available.
Less than a week before the start of her trial, Pamela S. FOLEY, 41, of Ridgeway, MO, entered a guilty plea to a charge of murdering her estranged husband, a Mount Ayr man, back in November 2000. FOLEY entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of second-degree murder in the death of her husband, Larry WHITE, 39, of Mount Ayr. The couple was last seen together at a bar in Mount Ayr in early November 2000. WHITE'S body was recovered from a well on a farm west of Eagleville on December 9, 2000. An autopsy found WHITE had died from being shot in the head with a .22 caliber weapon. Another individual, Ronald Frederick GIBSON, 22, of Bethany, MO, currently is awaiting trial on a related charge of abandonment of a corpse. According to authorities, GIBSON allegedly assisted in disposing of WHITE'S body.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2012
The Bethany Republic-Clipper
Bethany, Missouri
Wednesday, June 19, 2002, Pages 1 & 2
Pamela Foley pleads guilty to murder;
state to recommend life imprisonment
Less than a week before the start of her trial, Pamela S. FOLEY, 41, of Ridgeway [Missouri] entered a guilty plea to a charge
of murdering her estranged husband at the residence they formerly shared at the Rock House Lake.
FOLEY appeared last
Wednesday morning before Buchanan County Circuit Judge Patrick ROBB in St. Joseph where she pled guilty to a reduced
charge of second-degree murder in the death of her husband, Larry WHITE, 39, of Mount Ayr.
After accepting her plea,
Judge ROBB ordered a pre-sentence report from the state Probation and Parole Board and set sentencing for 8:30 a.m. on
Aug. 27.
Keven ZOELLNER of the state attorney general's office, who handled the prosecution, said the state would
recommend a life sentence. If the state's recommendation is accepted, FOLEY would serve a term of at least 25 1/2 years.
Authorities said FOLEY and WHITE had long had a rocky relationship. The couple was last seen together in early November
of 2000 at a bar in Mount Ayr. On Nov. 10, FOLEY contacted the sheriff's department claiming that WHITE had assaulted
her.
Sheriff Rick DIERENFELDT said he interviewed FOLEY at her Rock House residence and was told by FOLEY that WHITE
had come to her house in an inebriated condition and had beaten hear and pulled her by her hair. She claimed that WHITE
had left her house after the assault.
Officers came to the conclusion that WHAT was acutally slain the day before
DIERENFELDT'S interview with FOLEY.
WHITE was reported mising by relatives later in November. On Nov. 27, officers
received a tip from an acquaintance of the couple that WHITE had been killed. The Highway Patrol contacted the informant
and anotehr acquaintance and persuaded them to alk to FOLEY about her husband's disappearance, supplying them an audio
tape recorder.
After reviewing incriminating statements reportedly made by FOLEY in the audio tape, authorities
brought the Ridgeway woman in for questioning. FOLEY at first admitted having a fight with her estranged husband, but when
she was confronted with the tape recording, she changed her story saying that she had shot WHITE during an argument
and had help from others in disposing of the body.
FOLEY professed during questioning that she did not know where
WHITE'S body had been taken but offered to telephone someone who might know. She placed a call from the courthouse, but
the individual she contacted [Page 2] refused to tell her the location of the body. A few minutes later, however, authorities
received a call from an attorney representing an individual who offered to lead them to the body.
WHITE'S body was recovered
on Dec. 9, 2000, from a well on a farm west of Eagleville. An autopsy determined that WHITE had been shot in the head
with a 22-caliber weapon.
FOLEY'S court-appointed attorney argued at a preliminary hearing in Harrison County Circuit Court
Division 2 that authorities had used trickery in obtaining the incriminating statements from their client. But FOLEY
was bound over for trial in Circuit Court on first-degree murder charges.
Foley's case was sent to Buchanan County on
a change of venue. FOLEY'S attorneys had indicated before the trial that they would present a battered-wife defense.
But six days before the expected start of her trial, FOLEY appeared in court to plead guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree
murder. The state attorney general's office, which handled the prosecution of the case, said charges of armed criminal
action were also dropped in the plea agreement.
Another individual, Ronald Frederick GIBSON, 22, of Bethany [Missouri]
currently is awaiting trial on a related charge of abandonment of a corpse. According to authorities, GIBSON allegedly
assisted in disposing of WHITE'S body. His case has been sent to Clinton County, Mo.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, July of 2012
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The County Coordinator.
Please include the word "Ringgold" in the subject line. Thank you.
