GUILTY: Gary Sweet Pleads In Lake Ozark RV Park Double-Murder

MILLER COUNTY, Mo. — Gary Sweet has pleaded guilty to murdering Jim and Sheri Parker at Riverview RV Park, in November of 2017.

On March 8, Sweet stood before Judge Mathew Hamner in a Miller County Courtroom and entered a plea of guilty to two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, one count of Assault in the First Degree, and one count of Assault in the Second Degree. Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Winfrey submitted an amended charging document reducing the crimes from first to second degree murder as part of Sweet’s plea arrangement. The court set the sentencing date for 1 p.m. on June 12, 2019.

The formal charges against Sweet arose out of an incident that took place in the Riverview RV Park, Lake Ozark, on the night of Nov. 8, 2017. On that night, police were called to the RV park to investigate a shooting with injury. After talking to the victim, who had been wounded after a shotgun blast penetrated his RV, and his wife, police discovered the park’s office door forcibly opened. Upon investigation, murdered victims Jim and Sheri Parker were found in their beds.

The wife of the man who survived the shotgun blast identified Sweet as a possible suspect. She knew Sweet as someone who had been evicted from the RV park earlier. Further, Sweet had been charged earlier with assault upon the murder victim, Jim Parker, following the eviction. Investigators developed additional leads in the case after interviewing Sweet in his Rolla home.

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Executing a search warrant, police found shell casings and clothing items matching similar items found at the crime scene. Also, surveillance video footage from the night of the murders showed a person resembling Sweet entering the area where the bodies were found.

Winfrey explained to LakeExpo.com that the possible penalty for second degree murder is almost as long as the penalty for first degree murder. Further, Sweet made an open plea, which did not include any negotiation as to sentence length recommendation by the state. Consequently, Winfrey could ask the court for the life sentence on each count of murder.

According to Missouri statutes, murder is classified as a violent crime and thus carries a requirement the defendant serve 85 percent of the sentence before consideration for parole. A life sentence for second degree murder is stipulated as a minimum of 30 years, so Sweet could serve 25 years before being considered for parole. If the court imposes the sentences consecutively, Sweet would serve at least 25 years of the first sentence and then began the second life sentence serving a minimum of 25 years.

The first-degree assault charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years and the second-degree assault charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years. These too are classified as violent crimes requiring 85 percent of the sentence on each charge. If the court imposes the maximum sentence on each charge, Sweet would face almost 70 years in prison.

Sweet entered his plea of guilty to the primary crimes of murder and assault, counts 1, 3, 5, and 7. In consideration for this, the State, through Winfrey, dismissed the lesser associated charges of Armed Criminal Action attached to each of the primary charges. These were Counts 2, 4, 6, and 8.

Family and friends of the victims filled one side of the courtroom during the proceeding. The other side remained empty except for one lady sitting on the front bench. Sweet smiled and waved to her as deputies brought him into the courtroom in leg shackles and hand cuffs. After Sweet agreed to the charges, he was led away by deputies without interacting with that woman or anyone.