McCunn found guilty of first degree murder
Tess Nelson
The Red Oak Express
A Red Oak man could possibly be spending the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty Thursday, Aug. 8, in Page County Court. A jury found Toby McCunn of Red Oak guilty of the first-degree shooting death of Joshua Jordan of Shenandoah. The incident took place in the early morning hours of April 22, in a Shenandoah home.
The trial began Tuesday, Aug. 6, in Clarinda. McCunn will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Sept. 17 in Page County.
It took the jury less than three hours to find McCunn, 34, guilty of killing Jordan, 33. During the trial 15 witnesses took the stand. McCunn did not testify.
The bad blood between McCunn and Jordan allegedly started several months prior over property allegedly stolen from McCunn. Jordan allegedly had some of the stolen property. According to McCunn, the more Jordan ignored and avoided him, the more focused McCunn became on his stolen property and Jordan. Witnesses verified McCunn was looking for Jordan, and Jordan knew it.
Phillip Kennedy, a special agent with the Department of Criminal Investigations, who interviewed McCunn April 22, described him as “obsessed” with Jordan and recovering the items stolen from him.
The defense stated McCunn shot Jordan out of self-defense. Defense Attorney Andrew Munger told the jury McCunn was fearful for his life, especially after a March meeting where Jordan pointed a revolver at McCunn’s head and fired a shot into a nearby wall. Jordan allegedly then commented the next bullet would “count.”
The defense continued, McCunn didn’t have a gun April 22, but rather grabbed one Jordan had dropped on the floor.
“It was at this time that he told me he threw himself to the floor on his knees and retrieved the black handgun,” Kennedy testified.
Prosecutors say McCunn went to the house of Kevin Weil and Brandy Baker on April 22, armed with a gun, and waited in the kitchen to surprise Jordan as he entered the residence. State Assistant Attorney General Doug Hammerand said an eyewitness claimed McCunn fired the first shot.
“The defendant fired five times; two of them hit Josh. One went through his lung, his heart and exited his body. Another one went through his back and came out of his shoulder. Josh eventually fell to the ground and was laying on the ground. Before Josh fell to the ground, he was able to get his revolver out and fire off some rounds. He did hit the defendant in the leg,” said Hammerand.
However, Munger counterpointed the witness was unreliable, and the state couldn’t prove who fired first. He continued, six .22 caliber bullets and or bullet fragments were recovered from the scene.
After shots were exchanged between McCunn and Jordan, McCunn fled to 301 S. Elm St., where he was taken into custody several hours later. He was treated for a leg injury at the Shenandoah Medical Center following his arrest.
McCunn faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. He is also facing charges of kidnapping, which he has plead not-guilty to. A pre-trial conference is set for Sept. 23 in Page County Court.