Dewayne Ed Wessel, 27, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 13, 2022, at a residence on County Road 527 west of Gainesville, Missouri. Deputies say the shooter, 42-year-old Brian Dunaway, called 911 around 4:35 a.m. reporting he had shot and killed Wessel. Deputies found Wessel’s body inside the Theodosia area home; he was pronounced dead at 6 a.m. by the Ozark County coroner.

According to Dunaway’s account to law enforcement, he intervened after witnessing a domestic assault between Wessel and Wessel’s girlfriend; Dunaway said he told Wessel to stop and that Wessel charged at him, at which point Dunaway fired a black semi-automatic handgun in self-defense. The 911 dispatcher’s log records Dunaway saying Wessel was intoxicated, talking about suicide, and then choking and trying to kill his fiancée.

Investigators also found a container with a crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine in the recliner where Dunaway had been sleeping, and Dunaway admitted to using methamphetamines the night before. Those facts affected the charges brought: Dunaway was initially charged with second-degree murder, felony firearm and methamphetamine possession counts and held without bond. The case concluded with a felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter and a December 2022 sentence of five years unsupervised probation.

Did anyone in the area know Wessel or have information about what happened that night?