Grand jury indicts Wimer murder suspect

A Jackson County grand jury Thursday indicted Brenden Rex Stansell, 20, for second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 23-year-old Matthew James Joseph Stephens last week in the Elderberry Flats area near Wimer, according to a press release issued by the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.

The grand jury heard from four witnesses, including three Jackson County Sheriff’s Office detectives, before deciding on the single second-degree murder charge in the Sept. 18 homicide, according to the indictment filed Thursday by Deputy District Attorney Lucy Durst in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Stansell is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon, records show. He is being held in the Jackson County Jail without bail.