‘There are some very unusual facts in this particular case’; Why self-defense may not apply to Polk County homicide case

POLK COUNTY, Mo. — A homicide investigation in Polk County has sparked a debate online over self-defense claims and Stand Your Ground laws.

Polk County prosecutors charged Corey Nielsen out of Morrisville, Missouri with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Nielsen told investigators he fired .223 caliber rounds from a semi-automatic rifle in the direction of a Ford pickup with 10 people inside of it, when several of the people in the truck lit fireworks towards the direction of Nielsen’s home and family.

One of the people in the truck, a 17-year-old Bolivar student died from multiple gunshot wounds to their upper body.

OzarksFirst spoke with three different criminal defense attorneys, who are not connected to the case on how they interpret the details provided and if self-defense claims could apply.

“I think that from what I’ve been able to see so far, that the case was charged appropriately. There are some very unusual facts in this particular case. Things that we do not often see,” John Kail said.

So, what are the details?

Nielsen told authorities he, his wife, and his four small children had moved on the property in Morrisville after he inherited it from family.

He claims the home was unlivable so they were living in a tent on the land while they renovated the home.

Nielsen tells investigators this wasn’t the first time pranksters had driven by and lit fireworks towards the home and bothered the family.

“It’s obviously very unusual to have a circumstance where you have a person camping in what is essentially their own front yard, and people nine or ten people in a truck bed and driving by, shooting off fireworks at this man and his family,” Kail said.

He goes on to tell detectives, that because of previous encounters, he made a makeshift area behind a trailer, which had a truck on it near the road, even adding extra boards for more concealment.

There would be times Nielsen would ‘patrol’ the property and lie between the truck and trailer with this rifle nearby, waiting for ‘potential problems’.

“What’s even more unusual is that apparently this has occurred before and he was lying in wait for them and so much so that he had even built fortifications to conceal himself, and so that’s a fact pattern that I’ve never seen before,” Kail said.

“Looking at it legally from legal principles, you know, one thing that stood out to me was it was kind of a classic, at least according to the PC statement, kind of a classic laying in wait, premeditation,” Kristin Jones said. “You know, if you’re if you set yourself up and conceal yourself in a way with a gun, with the intent to shoot at people, that is a lot more premeditation than we see in a lot of first-degree murder charges.”

“The fact that he had explained that it had happened before, I think actually cuts against his self-defense argument because he saw that it happened before, but it didn’t cause him or his family any sort of injury or really the reasonable threat of injury, which is what’s required to use deadly force,” Adam Woody said.

Nielsen would tell police he’d continue firing rounds at the truck while trying to aim at the tires with other fireworks going off around him, igniting a small fire.

“On the surface, it does not look like self-defense would be a viable claim. Stand Your Ground doesn’t really apply here. The Castle Doctrine doesn’t really apply here. The use of force that is alleged in this particular situation is very much disproportionate to what was supposedly done to this man and his family as it relates to the fireworks being shot at them,” Kail said. “Based upon what I know, it would be very difficult to present a valid self-defense claim, particularly when you consider the fact that he had made preparations for this very event. This is something that he was anticipating. He was allegedly on patrol and was waiting for this to occur. So this is not an act of surprise where an intruder is in the house.

The situation is being called tragic for all parties.

“That’s just a tragedy that we have a 17-year-old that lost their life,” Jones said.

“They were doing teenage pranks, throwing fireworks towards a property, and he indicated that he did not intend to kill anyone, and that at certainly could have been why the charge was filed as a second-degree murder as opposed to first-degree murder,” Woody said.

Nielsen is expected to appear in court again on August 7.

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