Man's death at home in west Springfield is a homicide

The victim was Robert Pugh, 44.

July 09, 2012|by Jerry Jacob, KY3 News | news@ky3.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield police say a death investigation that started on Sunday afternoon is now a homicide investigation. Police believe the death of Robert Pugh, 44, was neither self-inflicted nor accidental.

Police got a request to check on Pugh's well-being about 5:30 p.m. Sunday. They found his body in his home at 2824 W. Latoka St. Pugh lived there for several years.

"He helped my husband and me during the big ice storm in '07," said next door neighbor J.D. Crawford of Pugh. "He ran an extension cord from his generator so that we had lights. He was a nice guy, a helpful guy. It's sad what happened to him."

An officer at the scene told a reporter about 8 p.m. Sunday that police didn’t have any reason to believe it wasn’t a suicide or natural death. Detectives spent the night processing possible evidence in the home, and Cpl. Matt Brown said early Monday afternoon that they had changed their focus to a homicide investigation.

Brown says investigators are following several leads and ask anyone with information to call the Springfield Police Department at (417) 864-1810 or 869-TIPS. An autopsy by the Greene County Medical Examiner's office is pending.

Pugh received five years of probation in November 2009 after being convicted of not paying child support. In early 2011, a state probation and parole officer reported Pugh had violated terms of his probation. Pugh got caught up on his child support payments later in the year and a prosecutor's motion to revoke his probation was dropped. Online court records show that motion was renewed last October and Pugh made at least one payment since then. Another hearing on the motion to revoke his probation was scheduled for Aug. 18.

Neighbors describe Pugh as friendly and helpful. They say he often had guests at his home and owned a large dog.

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