A Missouri man is accused of shooting and killing his wife before setting fire to their home to conceal the evidence.
Danny Gilworth, 72, is charged with second-degree murder, arson, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and felony tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty, according to court records, and is being held without bond.
On May 24, around 10:35 a.m., someone was visiting a family member at 810 South 23rd Street in Unionville when they noticed smoke coming from a house.
As they walked around the house, attempting to enter through the front door, they were “confronted” by the homeowner, Gilworth, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol probable cause statement.
“Get away from the house,” Gilworth is said to have told the witnesses, pointing a rifle at them. “It is been a bad day,” he reportedly stated.
“I started the damn fire myself,” Gilworth admitted, according to the trooper who filed the probable cause statement. The witness then left and dialed 911.
Minutes later, a Putnam County Sheriff’s deputy arrived at the house and discovered Gilworth outside with a rifle, according to the document. When ordered to drop the weapon, the suspect did so, but when the deputy attempted to handcuff him, Gilworth “pulled away” and told the deputy that “he would have to kill him.”
He is said to have eventually obeyed commands and was arrested and transported to the Putnam County Jail. Around this time, family members of Sandra Gilworth, 70, arrived and informed authorities that their mother “was most likely in the house.”
After firefighters extinguished the fire and the Missouri Division of Fire Safety investigated, police discovered a deceased woman inside the house. “Also while conducting their investigation, the Missouri Division of Fire Safety was able to determine an accelerant was used to ignite the fire,” according to the court papers.
Danny Gilworth was charged with second-degree arson and unlawful use of a weapon just days after the fire occurred. On June 18, the complaint against him was amended to include the charge of murder with the intentional use, assistance, or aid of a deadly weapon.
The tampering charge was also filed because the suspect allegedly “altering or destroying” the victim’s structure “including the body” by arson “with the purpose to impair the availability of evidence for the investigation of murder.”
Unionville is located in the northern part of the state, approximately 9 miles south of the Iowa border.
