Connell given suspended sentence, probation for exhibiting weapon in longtime neighborly feud

Bradley D. Connell, 72, of Brixey, appeared before Circuit Judge Craig Carter April 3 and pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon (exhibiting) and was given a suspended imposition of sentence and placed on probation for 5 years. The online docket notes that he has no prior felony convictions, and the victims agreed with the offer and had a significant part in crafting the plea offer. 

In addition to standard conditions; Defendant to pay costs; obey all laws; Defendant not to possess or consume illegal drugs, alcohol or other intoxicating/mood altering substances; Defendant consents to search and seizure of person, home and/or vehicle; Defendant subject to random drug and alcohol testing upon request of any law enforcement officer or court with or without probable cause; Defendant not to frequent establishments that primary purpose is the sale of alcohol beverages; to pay $300 to the County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund within 90 days; complete 100 hours of community service, have no contact with victim, forfeit all guns and pay Court Probationary Services fees of $88. 

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Lane, he and fellow Deputy Vesa Phelan responded to a call at 6:35 p.m. Oct. 2, 2023, after a woman reported that their neighbor, Connell, pointed a gun at her and her two children while in the road near their homes. 

She also told police that he told her he was “assigned to her,” and threatened her life, the report says. 

The woman said there had been an ongoing property dispute between their family and the neighbor, which is currently being handled in the court system. She said that the dispute involves the easement to her property, and McConnell has blocked the roadway with large rocks and set spike traps in the road to limit their movement. The family says the blockages have caused them to be able to only drive on the right side of the gravel road and in the ditch. 

“The [caller] said twice that Mr. Connell had blocked the road in the manner resulting in them driving halfway in the ditch where they ended up with flat tires due to spikes placed in the ditch by Mr. Connell. The [caller] stated he had also pointed a pistol in her father’s face when her father was attempting to remove the rocks from the road,” Lane wrote in the report. 

The woman said that the immediate incident of concern occurred that day when she had been walking down the road with her two children, ages 3 and 11. She said Connell came out of the woodline with a firearm on his shoulder, shouting for her to get off his property, the report says. She said he also began blowing sirens from his fence. 

“The [woman] explained to Mr. Connell she was just walking her children down the road, and she was on her easement and had a right to be on the road,” Lane said. 

The woman said at that point her father walked down the road shouting, and that was when Connell lowered the firearm, chambered a round and told her “I could do all sorts of things to you like blow out your knees.”

The woman said the two children were present for the entire incident. She said at that point, she and her father grabbed the kids and ran back to their home, where they called law enforcement and waited for their arrival. 

“Once Deputy Phelan and I were on the road, we noticed a man in all black cross from the left to the right side of the road and [went] back into Mr. Connell’s yard. While passing the yard, we saw no indication of the [father of the caller who was] wanting to speak with us in the yard, so we continued to drive to the dead-end driveway to the [caller’s home]. While making our way past the yard, several lights, sirens and cameras were spotted on the fence and trees facing the road,” Lane wrote. The Ozark County weekly sheriff’s report show that the property dispute has continued for several years now.