Former Ozarks pastor allowed bond while awaiting trial for murder of wife’s alleged lover

The former pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Rogersville, Mo., has been allowed to post bond after spending two years in jail for the alleged murder of his wife’s lover. Matthew Dedmon, now 49, shot 57-year-old Joe Newburn multiple times in the chest on May 28, 2022, after he allegedly spotted the other man with his wife in a car outside a restaurant in Ozark, Mo., Fox News reported.

Newburn died the next day, and Dedmon was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. For two years, he had been kept behind bars without bond. In September 2022, Judge Laura Johnson wrote that letting Dedmon out on bond would put the public in “grave danger.” However, on October 1, the judge granted Dedmon $30,000 bond, provided that he wear a GPS monitoring device and remain on house arrest.

Dedmon’s attorneys argued that the state’s slowness to endorse witnesses violated their client’s rights under Missouri’s Constitution.

“This case has been pending for well over two years,” they wrote in a court filing. “Counsel for defendant has worked diligently during that time to ready this case for trial. Just as counsel for defendant believed that depositions were concluded (as she had deposed all endorsed witnesses) and the matter was finally ready to set for trial, the state filed its motion to endorse.”

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As of this week, Christian County jail records did not indicate that the pastor had been released. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

The shooting victim, Newburn, had “always been the guy next door that everyone wanted to know,” could “build a bike better than Schwinn” and “build a hotrod as if he someday would be in NASCAR,” according to his online obituary. He is survived by two children and a “host of grandkids.” Dedmon’s murder trial is scheduled to begin on March 3, 2025.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice