LINCOLN COUNTY, MO — A video of a shooting on July 4th, 2019 was obtained by the victim’s mother. It involves the case of St. v. Russell that’s still awaiting trial. The video does not contain any audio.

On the video, you can see the victim, 43-year-old Brian Fredde, standing on a driveway on the edge of his brother-in-law’s property. Fredde’s brother-in-law, Russell Woods, who’s now 34, walks out on the porch.

The victim is seen talking to someone off camera when he suddenly runs at his brother-in-law, who is standing on the porch. He pushes him and is shot by Woods almost simultaneously.

The Lincoln County Prosecutor’s Office alleges it’s first-degree murder. A probable cause statement, written by an assistant prosecutor, says the brother-in-law is yelling something offensive, which leads to victim Fredde running at him. The prosecution also says that Woods was concealing his gun behind his back and that he also smiled before pulling it out and shooting.

“I don’t believe it’s self-defense, Cheryl Bertels, Fredde’s mother, said. She hopes the video will answer years of questions.

Bertels said, “There are so many people who have different ideas about what went on.”

Defense attorney Shannon Downs Norman said, “Our client had no idea that his brother-in-law was coming over to his house. He protected himself and his one-year-old child, who was sleeping on the other side of the window.”

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Counselor Norman says Woods walked out missing a sock, proving he wasn’t expecting this to go down. In a bond reduction hearing, she told the judge in court, “[The victim] had four to five times the amount of meth in his system that would make someone violent. He was in a meth-induced psychosis.”

Bertels commented, “Since my son did not have a weapon, I don’t believe he was planning to encounter Russell Woods and me, so I just feel like the meth doesn’t even play into that.”

Counselor Norman said, “If you can’t provide self-defense for your family under those circumstances, then I have no idea what circumstances you can provide it under; the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is trying to take that right away from the citizens of Lincoln County.”

Woods went back to the jail in shackles, but his bond was reduced from $500,000 to $300,000. If he posts it, he’s limited in where he can go and will wear a GPS monitor.

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