Murder of good Samaritan nets man a 59-year sentence

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff, Missouri, man was sentenced Friday to 59 years in prison on multiple felonies, including a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of a good Samaritan who had given him a ride.

Joseph Wade Wisdom appeared before Circuit Judge David Jones for sentencing, after having pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon.

Wisdom, 34, pre-empted his June trial by pleading guilty to the shooting death of Stahl Lee Sturgeon on March 8, 2016, as well as the exhibiting of a weapon and/or firing shots at passers-by.

“I argued that all (the sentences) should be consecutive, which would be a total of 89 years,” Butler County assistant prosecuting attorney Paul Oesterreicher said.

He said defense basically left sentencing up to the court, but “they were wanting the minimum and everything to run concurrent.”

Oesterreicher said Wisdom will have to serve 85 percent of his sentences on the murder and assault charges before he will be eligible for parole.

As part of plea negotiations, the state dismissed five unclassified felonies of armed criminal action.

Before sentencing the judge heard testimony from Joyce Keathley “as to the impact of the loss of her son (Sturgeon).

“I think it let the judge know what our position was,” Oesterreicher said.

According to Oesterreicher, Keathley said the outcome “did not make up for the loss of her son, but she felt satisfied with the sentences he got.”

Wisdom pleaded guilty in connection with an incident, which involved the death of Sturgeon, who was found dead inside his Toyota Camry on the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter.

According to earlier reports, Sturgeon died inside his car of gunshots to the neck and chest.

Authorities learned the shooting happened on U.S. 67 South.

Officers say Sturgeon picked up Wisdom on the side of Highway 160 near Hillview about 7 a.m. While en route to Poplar Bluff, authorities said Sturgeon retrieved a large-caliber handgun from the car’s center console when Wisdom began behaving erratically, and a struggle ensued, resulting in shots fired in the car.

Wisdom then shot at passing motorists before trying to remove Sturgeon from the car.

Unable to do so, Wisdom drove himself to Walmart seated in Sturgeon’s lap.

Wisdom was arrested when Poplar Bluff police officers found him lying prone inside Walmart’s entry doors after their arrival at 7:10 a.m. When officers checked Sturgeon’s car, parked in a driving lane about 25 yards from the entrance, Sturgeon was found belted in and slumped over in the driver’s seat.

When Wisdom was interviewed after his arrest, he said he had been using methamphetamine and had not slept in “some time.” He also said he had been given “some ‘bad dope.’”