ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Investigators in St. Charles said the relationship of two longtime friends who’d been living as roommates at a hotel for the last several months had taken a violent turn as of late.

After living together since December 2023, one of the men, identified as George D. Easley, had recently become aggressive, according to his roommate.

According to the St. Charles Police Department’s probable cause statement, Easley first beat his roommate with a cast iron frying pan and again a few days later, on July 10, with a metal steering wheel lock.

The beating caused lacerations to the left side of his roommate’s head, back, arms, and legs, including an injury to his left eye, causing vision loss.

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According to police, Easley sent a message to his roommate the next morning, saying, “If they ask, tell them you were working at home and you had an accident when some things fell on your head.”

Two days later, on July 13, the roommate came home from work, and Easley became angry with him, saying he took too long to come home from work.

Easley accused his roommate of telling his coworkers he had been assaulted. Easley had purchased a revolver earlier that day, and then showed his roommate the weapon.

After showing him the weapon, Easley dropped bullets in his roommate’s lap and said he would shoot him in the head and throw his body in the river, according to the probable cause statement.

The roommate said Easley started hitting him in the head and face with the revolver.

Easley made his roommate sleep in the bathtub of the hotel room they were sharing, according to police. The roommate also told police that Easley had held on to his ID, bank card, and Social Security card.

Easley was arrested in the hotel parking lot outside the hotel, along Veterans Memorial Parkway near South 1st Capitol Drive. After the arrest, police found the revolver in Easley’s backpack. The roommate’s ID, bank card, and Social Security card were found in Easley’s wallet.

The roommate who rented the hotel room allowed police to search the room. They recovered the cast iron frying pan and steering wheel lock that were used to beat him.

Police said that the roommate’s injuries were so severe that he was unrecognizable when compared to his driver’s license photo.

The St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Easley with two counts of first-degree assault. Easley was jailed on a $75,000 cash-only bond and can make no contact with his roommate. Easley will attend a bond hearing at the St. Charles County Circuit Court on July 25.

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