The caller identified himself as the shooter before officers reached the Eighth Street home.
ADRIAN, Mo. — At 11:23 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2024, Carter Joshua Curtis called 911 and said he had shot his stepfather, beginning a fast-moving police response that ended with Curtis under arrest one block from his home.
The call became the first clear link between Curtis and the death of 41-year-old John McMurphy. Officers arrived to find frightened relatives outside, a rifle already removed from Curtis’ hands and McMurphy dead on the lower floor. Nearly two years later, Curtis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 20-year prison sentence, closing the court case without a trial that might have explained what led to the shooting.
Police were not responding to a vague report of a disturbance or an unidentified gunshot. The caller said he had shot his father, according to the probable cause statement filed by the Adrian Police Department. That admission gave dispatchers a suspected shooter, a location and an urgent warning that a firearm had been used. Multiple agencies headed toward the Eighth Street residence. By the time they arrived, Curtis was no longer holding the rifle and had left the house. Officers had to address several tasks at once: determine whether anyone could still be saved, secure the gun, protect the people outside and locate Curtis. The probable cause statement says officers found him nearby within minutes. Nothing in the public account indicates that he was armed when arrested or that officers used force to take him into custody.
The scene confronting the first officer was marked by panic rather than resistance. Two women stood in the driveway and were described as hysterical. A juvenile was outside as well. Someone shouted, “He has never been violent,” as officers began checking the property, according to the filing. The document is redacted in places and does not identify who spoke or the person being described. That uncertainty prevents the statement from settling whether the remark concerned Curtis, McMurphy or another person. It nevertheless shows the emotional confusion surrounding the first moments of the response. Officers then entered the residence and saw McMurphy lying face down on the floor. Police reported an obvious gunshot wound to his head. The statement does not describe emergency medical treatment, indicating that responders found him dead at the scene.
Inside the home, investigators recovered a Mossberg Patriot rifle chambered for .308-caliber ammunition. It was a bolt-action firearm, meaning a user manually works the action between shots. Police said a fired cartridge case remained in the chamber. The rifle’s magazine was in place but contained no additional rounds. That meant officers could secure the weapon without finding more ammunition in the attached magazine, though the public filing does not say whether they searched for loose cartridges elsewhere. Investigators documented the rifle because it tied the physical scene to the accounts given by Curtis and McMurphy’s wife. The statement does not report that another firearm had been discharged, nor does it identify another suspected shooter. It also does not provide a full laboratory report or autopsy findings.
The most detailed witness account came from McMurphy’s wife. She said she had been asleep before the gunshot woke her. When she entered the hallway, she saw Curtis holding the rifle. He gave it to her, then headed downstairs and away from the home. Curtis told her he had already contacted 911 and said he “had to do it,” according to the police summary. She later went downstairs and discovered McMurphy face down near the dining table. Her statement established the sequence after the shot, but it did not describe seeing Curtis fire. Nor did the publicly available portion of the police filing say that she witnessed an argument or heard words exchanged before the gun went off. The known timeline therefore begins with the gunshot rather than with the events that caused it.
The phrase Curtis allegedly used after the killing became the case’s most striking detail, but authorities have not publicly explained it. Saying he had to act could suggest that Curtis believed he had a reason, yet the probable cause statement identifies no immediate danger that legally justified deadly force. It records no attack by McMurphy, no weapon found beside him and no report that someone else faced a threat at that moment. Those omissions do not prove that no conflict existed; they mean the released record does not describe one. Because Curtis later pleaded guilty, jurors never heard lawyers test competing explanations. A guilty plea also meant Curtis did not have to testify publicly about his state of mind or describe what happened before his 911 call.
Police arrested Curtis close to the house, ending the immediate search. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. The first charge would have required the state to prove a knowing killing after deliberation. The weapon charge alleged that a deadly weapon was used to commit the felony. Curtis remained jailed while the case advanced in Bates County Circuit Court. The 613 days he later received as sentence credit reflect the long period between his arrest and final judgment. During that time, attorneys could review police reports, witness statements, physical evidence and any recordings of the 911 call. The publicly available reports do not say whether the call was played in court, whether Curtis underwent a mental evaluation or whether either side filed motions challenging the admissibility of his statements.
The case ended in early June 2026 before a jury was asked to decide it. Curtis admitted second-degree murder, a reduced charge covering a knowing killing or a death caused while intending serious injury. Prosecutors dismissed armed criminal action under the plea agreement. Circuit Judge M. Brandon Baker accepted the plea and sentenced Curtis to 20 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The judge gave him credit for all 613 days reported as time already served. Curtis was represented by public defender Jeffrey Martin of Harrisonville. The reports announcing the outcome do not include comments from Martin or identify the prosecutor who negotiated the agreement. They also do not reproduce a factual statement Curtis may have made when entering his plea.
The reduction from first-degree to second-degree murder changed the legal issue at the center of the case. First-degree murder focuses on deliberation, which Missouri law describes as cool reflection for any length of time, while second-degree murder does not require the state to prove that added element. The plea still resulted in a homicide conviction and a decades-long prison term. Dismissal of the armed criminal action charge also removed the possibility of a separate sentence tied specifically to the rifle. Missouri law permits punishment for armed criminal action when a felony is committed with a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon. In Curtis’ case, the state chose one negotiated murder conviction rather than taking both original counts to trial.
The sentence transferred responsibility for Curtis from the county court system to the Missouri Department of Corrections. His jail credit will count toward the 20-year term, but the public reports do not provide an exact date when he might first be considered for release. Parole eligibility and actual release are separate matters. The Missouri Parole Board schedules hearings according to the governing sentence structure, and a hearing does not guarantee that an incarcerated person will leave prison. The board may examine conduct in custody, the nature of the crime and information from victims or their relatives. Because no specific hearing date has been announced, any calculation of Curtis’ eventual release would be speculative.
For responding officers, the decisive part of the case lasted only minutes. A man called 911, identified himself as the shooter, left the rifle with a person inside the home and remained in the surrounding neighborhood. The longer legal process took hundreds of days and ended through negotiation rather than testimony. That contrast leaves a detailed record of the emergency response but a limited public explanation of the conflict itself. Police documented when the call arrived, where McMurphy was found, what condition the rifle was in and where Curtis was arrested. The records released so far say much less about the relationships inside the house or the hours before the killing.
With Curtis now convicted and sentenced, authorities are not preparing for a murder trial. His 20-year term and 613-day credit remain the controlling judgment, while the meaning behind his statement that he “had to” shoot McMurphy remains unexplained in the public record.
Author note: Last updated July 11, 2026.