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PrintCOLUMBIA — A woman accused of assisting in the 2004 Boone County murder of her estranged husband was extradited from Texas on Thursday, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.
Tausha L. Fields, 33, is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of her ex-husband Mitchell Kemp. Gregory Morton, Fields’ other ex-husband, faces the same charges for his alleged role in Kemp’s murder.
- Tracy Kemp, brother of murder victim Mitchell Kemp, talks to reporters with family members Tuesday night after a jury took nearly nine hours to convict Tausha Fields in the shooting death of her former husband Mitchell Kemp. Fields was convicted of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
- Defense attorney Paul Hood (left) offers up business records as proof to Judge Oxenhandler while court reporter Kristal Murphy enters the information into official record on June 29 at the Boone County Courthouse during jury deliberation for Tausha Fields' trial. She is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of her ex-husband Mitchell Kemp in 2004.
- Attorneys Richard Hicks (left) and Paul Hood (right) inspect evidence photographs at the jury's request for images that show Lexi, Tausha Fields' daughter, in August 2004 during jury deliberations for Fields' trial on June 29 at the Boone County Courthouse.
- Tausha Fields listens as her attorney, Paul Hood, delivers his closing argument to the jury during Fields's first-degree murder trial June 29 at the Boone County Courthouse.
- Tausha Fields, center, listens to testimony from Detective David Wilson with one of her attorneys, Kim Shaw, left, during trial on June 28 at the Boone County Courthouse. Wilson answered questions from the defense about her continuous contact with the authorities prior to her arrest.
- Defense witness Jami Bowden breaks down on the stand during Tausha Fields' trial on June 28 at the Boone County Courthouse while recounting an altercation in 2005 between herself and Greg Morton. Morton pleaded guilty in June 2009 to killing Fields' ex-husband Mitchell Kemp on August 24, 2004.
- Tausha Fields scribbles notes on a piece of paper during a short recess Friday during the fifth day of her first-degree murder trial at the Boone County Courthouse. The prosecution showed videos from the 2008 interviews between Fields and detectives during both the morning and afternoon sessions.
- Enforcement Officer Brandon Weber of the Boone County Sheriff's Department watched videos from the 2008 interviews between Tausha Fields and detectives during the fifth day of Fields' first-degree murder trial at the Boone County Courthouse on June 25. Weber was one of many in attendance during the afternoon.
- Boone County detective, David Wilson, testifies during the fifth day of Tausha Fields' first-degree murder trial at the Boone County Courthouse on June 25. The prosecution showed videos from the 2008 interviews between Fields and detectives during both the morning and afternoon sessions.
- Keith Jones identifies vacation photos while living in Florida with Tausha Fields during witness testimony in Fields' first-degree murder trial on Thursday at the Boone County Courthouse.
- Tausha Fields is charged with the death of her husband, Mitchell Kemp.
According to the probable cause statement from the Boone County Circuit Court, detectives interviewed an acquaintance of Morton and Fields, identified only as a Florida resident with the initials K.J.
K.J. said Fields admitted to participating in Kemp’s murder by “luring him under false pretenses” to the Deer Park Road home that Fields shared with Morton. Morton allegedly shot Kemp and buried him on the property located near Three Creeks State Park, according to the statement.
In August 2008, Fields led detectives to an unmarked grave on the Deer Park Road property formerly owned by Morton, according to the statement. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab used DNA analysis to identify the remains as those of Kemp. An autopsy conducted by the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded Kemp died from multiple gunshots and ruled the death a homicide.
Kemp was reported missing by family members in 2004. Boone County detectives launched an investigation into Kemp’s death after receiving information from Kemp’s family that he may have been murdered in Boone County.
It took detectives until December to solidify the case against Fields, said Tom Reddin of the Sheriff’s Department. The investigation took the Sheriff’s Department to multiple states and involved numerous law enforcement departments, Reddin said.
Fields, who also uses the surname Morton, was arrested in December 2008 in Galveston County, Texas, where she was living. Fields previously lived in Jackson County, Fla., Reddin said.
Fields is being held at the Boone County jail on $1 million cash bond.
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