The verdict is guilty on all counts for a man who was apprehended at Altamont in January 2009. Danial Rinehart, 49, was convicted of felony murder, child endangerment, statutory rape and two counts each of incest and abandonment of a corpse in a Cass County trial that concluded yesterday (April 20).
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It was an anonymous tip that led the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department to arrest Rinehart, who fathered four children with his teenage daughter, murdering three of them, and then hiding the remains on property in Cass County where the family once lived.
On Jan. 21, 2009, the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office along with the Missouri State Highway Patrol went to 160th Street and Outboard Avenue, outside of Altamont, and arrested Rinehart without incident. Rinehart had apparently been living there since October 2008. Rinehart’s daughter Ashley, 20, and her three-year-old son were also taken into protective custody that night.
At the time Sheriff Ben Becerra only knew that Rinehart was wanted by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. It was after the arrest was made that he became aware of the seriousness of the situation.
The jury took only 2-1/2 hours to bring back the guilty verdicts. They then returned a second time and recommended the maximum sentences on all counts, ranging from life in prison for second-degree murder to 30 years for the other charges. Sentencing was set for June 7.
During the trial Rinehart’s daughter testified about years of incest in a crowded overhead camper and giving birth to four babies. Remains of two infants were found in chest-type coolers. One baby was buried in a makeshift grave in Oklahoma. She related how she was kept from family gatherings and dinners, forced to stay in the camper because of her father’s behavior.
Linda Rinehart, Danial’s wife, is scheduled for trial in August on two counts of child endangerment. Authorities say she was aware of the incest and helped in the delivery of the babies.