Milan Woman Found Dead With Gunshot Wound
By John Garlock, Courtesy of KTVO-TV
MILAN, MO – Friday, May 14, 2021 — A suspect is now charged in a northeast Missouri murder case.
The Milan Police Department identifies the suspect as Edward “Eli” Withey, 20, of Milan, Missouri.
Withey is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse in the death of his 21-year-old wife, Mattie (Dean) Withey, also of Milan.
According to court documents, a couple of Mattie’s friends discovered the crime around 1:30 a.m. Friday in the couple’s upstairs apartment in the 300 block of North State Street in Milan.
They then called police.
Milan Police Chief Gail Hayes told KTVO Withey was found dead from one apparent gunshot wound. The murder weapon was found at the scene. Hayes says it is a .22 caliber rifle.
Police then called in the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control to assist in the investigation.
Hayes said they believe the woman was killed sometime on Thursday.
Eli Withey was arrested just before 5 a.m. Friday at his workplace, the Smithfield Foods plant in Milan.
Court documents state that at the time of his arrest Withey appeared to be very nervous, was trembling and sweating profusely.
Investigators saw three red stains, which appeared to be blood, on the hooded sweatshirt Eli was wearing. It was seized for evidence.
Withey is being held without bond.
Sullivan County Coroner Robert “Bob” Wyant told KTVO an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday at the Missouri State Medical Examiner’s Office in Columbia.
