Man pleads guilty in Russian roulette case

One of three people involved a March 2016 game of Russian Roulette that ended in the death of a Cole County man has pleaded guilty to amended charges.

Lucas Abbett, 22, of Henley, pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and making a false report, both misdemeanor charges. A charge of first-degree involuntary manslaughter was dismissed. He was placed on two years of unsupervised probation.

Allison Maize, 22, of Henley, and Ryan Buckley, 22, of Jefferson City, are both charged with tampering with physical evidence in this case. They are scheduled to appear in court in April.

Authorities said the three were involved in the death of Casey Pitman, 23, who was killed at a residence in the 6000 block of Upton Road in Henley.

Abbett called authorities saying Pitman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the throat area, according to Cole County Sheriff's Department probable cause statements.

However, investigators said they soon discovered Pitman and the three others had been playing with the gun while using methamphetamine.

"Abbett described spinning the cylinder, playing a game of Russian Roulette and pulling the trigger while in his possession," according to the statement.

At first, according to Abbett, the gun was not loaded, but at some point he put a live round in one of the chambers and handed the gun to Pitman.

"Abbett said he assumed Pitman had watched him put the bullet in the gun," according to the statement. "He watched as Pitman pointed the gun at his throat and then heard the shot."

Abbett said the group decided to get rid of the gun and narcotics after Pitman was shot to make the scene look like a suicide had occurred.

Abbett said he owned the gun, an SKS. He said Buckley had taken the gun after the shooting, but Abbett called him and told him to bring it back to make the suicide story stick.

A neighbor said just prior to authorities' arrival a vehicle had sped away from the home.

Buckley was found at his residence, and authorities found the weapon in the back seat of his vehicle.

Maize, who said she owned the home where the shooting occurred, initially said she wasn't with Pitman when he was shot and didn't know how it happened. Deputies said she later admitted to being in the room when the shooting occurred, and it was later determined she was involved in the plan to make the death look like a suicide.