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Accused Murderers Ordered to Stand Trial

A man accused to killing a Reynolds County couple and shooting a third person has been ordered to stand trial. His accomplice will also stand trail.

David Young, 68 of Ironton, appeared Wednesday, Feb. 28, before Associate Circuit Judge Benjamin Thompson for a preliminary hearing on two Class A felonies of first-degree murder, three unclassified felonies of armed criminal action and Class A felonies of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery.

Young did not appear in court. Young provided the court with a waiver for the hearing. He will appear at 9 a.m. April 5 before Cirucit Judge Sidney Pearson III for arraignment on charges.

Timothy Callahan, 44, of Farmington, the other person accused in the triple shooting, appeared before Thompson on Feb. 13 for preliminary hearing. Callahan also waived having a preliminary hearing. Callahan appeared in Reynolds County Court Tuesday morning before Judge Pierson for arraignment.

The men are accused in the shootings of 86-year-old James Nance, his 72-year-old wife, Janet, and a 73-year-old friend of the family Oct. 18 at the Nance home on Highway 106, about five miles outside Ellington. The third victim, Arlene Barber, was shot twice in the head but survived. She provided authorities with vehicle and suspect descriptions.

Young and Callahan were taken into custody Oct. 28 at a motel in the Deerfield Township in Ohio.

Young was on probation after pleading guilty in 2016 to financial exploitation of the elderly or disabled in Pulaski County, according to Missouri Case Net, the state’s online court reporting system. He was arrested again in September and charged with scamming an elderly couple out of thousands of dollars by convincing them to write checks for the same job — painting their barn.

The Nances were allegedly targeted. The two men had planned to rob the elderly couple.

While the robbery was in progress, Janet Nance and Arlene Barber returned home from a shopping trip and encountered the gunmen. At this time, the Nances and Barber were all shot in the back of the head with a .22-caliber revolver. Young and Callahan then fled from the scene.

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