Missouri Couple Found Slain On Their Front Porch In What Authorities Believe Was A 'Targeted' Attack

Investigators believe they are “on the right track” of solving the mysterious double-murder of a Missouri couple found dead on their front porch Saturday morning.

Willard Police Chief Tom McClain said in a news conference Monday that investigators believe 28-year-old Alexander Chute and Brianna Sproul, 30, were killed by a third party.

McClain said the crime scene did not suggest the couple had died during a murder-suicide but pointed to another person being involved, according to The Springfield News Leader.

Police also don’t believe it had been a random attack.

“These folks in Willard were targeted,” he said, according to local station KY3.

Police were called to the home Saturday morning and discovered the couple shot to death on the front porch.

McClain declined to discuss a possible motive in the slaying, but said he believed the investigators were making progress in the case.

“While I am not willing to talk about particular suspects or motives or things of that nature, we are, as I said earlier, confident that we are on the right track,” he said.

Oxygen.com reached out to the Willard Police but had not received a response as of press time.

At the time of the slayings, Chute had been in a custody battle with his ex-wife, according to court records obtained by the local station. Just last month, his ex-wife filed a motion for a family access order in the case.

Chute filed for divorce in 2018.

Although this level of violence is unusual for the small town, McClain said he is “hopeful and confident” that police will be able to bring those responsible to justice.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the Willard Police Department at 417-742-5341.