Kaufman pleads guilty in connection to property dispute

Jeffrey William Kaufman, 61, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon - exhibiting and misdemeanor second degree harassment. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Kaufman was sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the weapons charge SES and five years probation. He was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail for the harassment charge SES and two years probation. Both sentences are to run concurrent and he is to have no contact with the victim in the case. A misdemeanor charge of second degree property damage was dismissed. An SES, or suspended execution of sentence, means Kaufman will be sentenced to a prison term but will be placed on probation and will not go to prison unless he violates the terms of that probation.

Charges stem from a Sept. 14, 2025, event where Kaufman chopped down his neighbor’s fence with an ax during an ongoing property dispute with his Bakersfield neighbor. 

According to information shared in the dispatch report and probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Deputy Josh Sherman, a woman on V Highway in the Bakersfield area called the Ozark County Sheriff’s dispatch line at 9:23 a.m. Sept. 14 to report that her neighbor, Kaufman, had come onto her property with an ax and began chopping down a fence, claiming that it was on his property.

Sherman noted that the incident was part of an ongoing civil dispute between the woman and Kaufman which has continued to escalate over several months, despite efforts by the pair’s respective attorneys to settle the matter. 

The officer went to the woman’s home, where she showed him video footage of the incident that was taken by family members, the report says. 

“The video clearly showed Mr. Kaufman stating he was taking down the fence because it belonged to him. I inspected the damaged fence, which bordered most of the [victim’s] residence, and, according to [the victim] and her husband, had been in place for a long time,” Sherman wrote. “Several barbed wire lines tied to the fence were cut and in need of repair. [The victim], who was outside with her two-year-old granddaughter at the time, expressed fear for their safety, noting that Mr. Kaufman was waving the ax in a manner that made her worry about further escalation.” The woman told Sherman she wanted to pursue charges. 

The officer left the woman’s house to go to Kaufman’s nearby residence to speak with him about the incident. 

“During our brief conversation, he admitted to using his ax to cut down the fence, asserting it was on his property and part of his driveway,” the report says. 

Sherman said the incident follows a pattern of disruptive behavior by Kaufman toward the [victim’s] family, as the sheriff’s department had been called about the escalating tension between the two on July 21, Aug. 5, Aug. 15, Aug. 19, Aug. 23, Aug. 25 and Aug. 26. 

“These incident involved actions like cutting fences and tampering with water supply, despite ongoing legal action, suggesting intentional effort to cause emotional distress without justifiable cause,” the report says.