The Marine veteran and missionary shot and killed in a robbery gone wrong had fallen for a Facebook Marketplace scam allegedly run by local teens — who are accused of several other crimes.
Michael Ryan Burke of Columbia, Mo., was attempting to sell his iPhone Pro 15 in an organized Facebook Marketplace meetup for $585, when he was shot and killed at his home earlier this month, according to court docs.
Burke, 42, had agreed via the social platform to meet up with Alexis Baumann, Kobe Aust, Joseph Crane, all 18, as well as a fourth person who authorities said was a juvenile.
At least one member of the quartet allegedly confessed to cops that they’d “arranged to meet with the victim under the ruse of buying the victim’s cell phone,” according to court docs.
Alexis Baumann told cops she drove the group to their meet with Burke, with Crane and the juvenile going inside his home to retrieve the iPhone, authorities said.
She then heard gunshots coming from inside, and the group fled in her vehicle, she claimed, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Crane and the minor were armed with pistols, and admitted the shooting, Baumann allegedly confessed.
The group later sold his phone at a ecoATM at the Conley Road Walmart soon after the murder, court records show.
After fleeing, Crane and the minor “threw their sweatshirts out of her car window,” Baumann said.
The group of teens allegedly went on a cell phone robbery spree in the days leading up to Burke’s murder, where they targeted other Columbia locals via Facebook Marketplace scams, authorities said.
A day before Burke was killed, the minor allegedly nabbed a victim’s phone and said, “If you touch me I’ll shoot you,” according to authorities.
The group is also alleged to have stolen an iPhone 12 on Jan. 16 via another Facebook Marketplace meetup, court documents show.
Law enforcement tracked down the thieving bandits using Flock license plate cameras to identify Baumann’s car — before she and Aust were nabbed. Crane and the minor were arrested shortly after.
The three 18-year-olds are being held without bond at the Boone County Jail, while the unnamed juvenile is in custody at the Boone County Juvenile Office.
The group are due back in court next week, according to KOMU 8.
