Nearly eight years later, Missouri’s Shannon County Sheriff’s Office charges three men—Zachary Dalton Watson, Austin Drake Womack, and Ronald D. Brawley III—with second-degree murder in the June 16, 2018, death of 20-year-old Robbie Crites on Jacks Fork River, initially ruled accidental drowning.
Reopened Case
2025 reinvestigation uncovered inconsistencies, new evidence showing non-accidental death: Assaulted over drug debt/sexual assault claim, beaten/stabbed with fishing hook, bound with line around ankles/knees/back, dumped under log to drown.
Witness Accounts
- Womack bragged multiple times: “I killed that motherf***er. He owed me money for dope”; detailed beating, hook stab, river kick (denied others’ roles).
- Brawley drunkenly confessed fight start, Watson involved; pair dropped Crites at river 7:30 a.m., returned for fishing gear, vanished post-noon.
Held on $250K cash bonds each; case ongoing. Persistence pays—cold case justice.
