Lake-Area RV Park Double-Murderer Is Sentenced To Life In Prison

MILLER COUNTY, Mo. — Gary Sweet will likely spend the rest of his life in prison, after 26th Circuit Judge Matthew Hamner sentenced him for the murder of Jim and Sheri Parker at Riverview RV Park in 2017.

Sweet had pleaded guilty to two counts of Second Degree Murder and two counts of Felony Assault, admitting he had murdered the Parkers and fired a gun at an RV, injuring at least one occupant on the night of Nov. 8, 2017. Judge Hamner sentenced him on Friday, July 19, 2019 in the Miller County Courthouse. For the murder charges, Sweet was sentenced to life in prison, with the charges running concurrently. On the assault charges, Sweet was sentenced to 15 years on one, and 7 years on the other, with those sentences running concurrently, but consecutively to the murder charges, meaning the 59-year-old Sweet will likely die in prison.

Sweet’s wife was found dead in her home on or around June 7, 2019. The Rolla Police Department told LakeExpo.com no foul play was suspected in the death, and Sharon Sweet had been dead for a day or longer when her body was found in her home.

Case History

Police had been called to Riverview RV Park after a husband and wife reported Gary Sweet fired a gun at their RV. The 16-gauge shotgun pellets or shrapnel injured the husband, but the wife was unharmed. From there, an investigation revealed a door to the park office had been forcibly opened. Police, with the help of the Mid-Missouri Major Crimes Task Force then found the Parkers deceased, in bed.

As police investigated, the owners of the RV that was shot told them Sweet had been a former tenant of the park but had been evicted by the Parkers in October of 2017. According to police records, Sweet was arrested on Oct. 19, 2017 for simple assault on Jim Parker and the man who was injured in the shooting.

Authorities say they contacted Sweet at his home in Phelps County at around 3 a.m.—just a few hours after the shooting. Highway Patrol Corporal Mark Ward, who made first contact with Sweet, says the suspect told him he had been home at the time of the reported shootings. But Ward says when he touched the hood of Sweet’s truck, it was warm.

Authorities then searched phone records and say Sweet’s cell phone pinged off a tower in Lake Ozark at the time of the shooting.

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