INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – One man has been charged with murder after a shooting at an Independence motel left another man dead. Police were dispatched to a shooting call at the Super 6 motel on the 4100 block of Noland Road on Sunday night. When they arrived they found one man, Thomas R. Kuether, injured with a gunshot wound and had him transported to a hospital where he died.
On Monday, 37-year-old Vaughn L. Krepps was charged with one count of second-degree murder. Court documents state that multiple witnesses were in the room where Krepps was preparing to finish some tattoos. One witness said that she asked if anyone in the room had a cigarette and Kuether said that he did.
The witness said that without warning, Krepps then asked Kuether, “What did you say?” and proceeded to shoot him with a small, chrome revolver. Krepps then fled the room on foot and was found by police at 31st and Crysler where he was apprehended without a struggle.
Krepps admitted to police that he was in the hotel room with multiple people, but said he didn’t know any of them had no issues with anyone in the room. When police revealed what they had learned during investigation, Krepps refused further comment without a lawyer. His bond has been set at $150,000.
