Ozark County woman is charged with murdering man who was apparently trying to help her

DUGGINSVILLE, Mo. --  Deputies say 73-year-old Charles Wiggins was stabbed multiple times at his home in southern Ozark County.  Wiggins lived in a rural area near Dugginsville.  His family says he worked in his garden and tinkered with cars.  He also helped people who had nowhere to turn.

"Whenever she came out of rehab, Dad took her in to give her a place to stay, because she had no place to stay. She was homeless at that point," said Wiggins' son, Lee Bearden.

Bearden says his father let his distant relative, Angela Plemmons, live on his property. Plemmons lived in a trailer for about six months.  No one knows what led up to the stabbing.

"They said he had too much blood around the heart and around his stomach and they were not able to save him.  I always expected it would be a heart attack that got him.  I never dreamed in a million years it would be a violent death the way it was," said Bearden.

This comes at a time when Bearden is running for sheriff.  For nearly two decades, he has worked to put drug dealers behind bars.

"The hardest thing about that is having to step out of the way and have someone else do that job," said Bearden.

He says his father taught him patience.