Excelsior Springs, Mo. – Excelsior Springs Police have officially released the tragic details about the deaths of two men found inside a home on Woods Avenue in Excelsior Springs last month, clarifying the cause of death in what authorities are calling an apparent murder-suicide.
ESPD officers were dispatched at 8:39 p.m. on March 12 after receiving a 911 call from a concerned family member requesting a welfare check at a residence in the 200 block of Woods Avenue. Upon arrival, officers found the home secured. After forcing entry, they discovered two adult males deceased from “unnatural causes.”
This week, ESPD confirmed that 31-year-old Chad Wooten fatally shot and stabbed his cousin, 33-year-old Dare Kinney, before turning the gun on himself. Both men, military veterans, had been roommates for several years following their service.
According to ESPD, Kinney was seated in the living room when it appears Wooten approached from his bedroom down the hallway. The medical examiner’s autopsy report determined Kinney suffered multiple fatal injuries, including a gunshot and numerous stab wounds. However, the sequence of the injuries could not be conclusively determined.
“There were multiple different wounds that, on their own, would have been fatal,” officers explained. “They happened in such quick succession that it’s nearly impossible to know which injury came first.”
However, investigators noted there were no signs of a struggle. Kinney appeared never to have moved from his spot in the living room, and no defensive wounds were observed, suggesting an initial gunshot may have been the fatal wound.
Wooten then went into his bedroom, where he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities are still awaiting results from electronic evidence gathered from the scene, including phones, in hopes of uncovering more insight into Wooten’s motive. No suicide note was found in the house, and toxicology reports were still pending at the time of this interview.
Family members told police that both men had struggled with depression at different times, but said they were close and had never shown signs of serious conflict.
“Our investigation is very clear on what happened,” officers said. “What we don’t know—and may never know—is why.”
The Excelsior Citizen’s earlier report on the case can be found here.
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