A former Columbia restaurant owner who was once featured on the “Food Network” will appear in a Boone County courtroom this (Monday) morning ahead of his November murder trial.
32-year-old Jeffrey Edward McWilliams is charged with second degree murder, first degree robbery and armed criminal action for the December 2017 drug-related shooting death of Augustus Roberts in the Old Hawthorne subdivision. It allegedly involved Roberts’ murder and the robbery or attempted robbery of a U-haul that had a large amount of marijuana in it.
A woman who was inside the home before Roberts was shot and killed ran out of the house and says the three suspects wore ski masks and demanded money and property.
McWilliams is being represented by prominent St. Louis defense attorney Scott Rosenblum. Nick Komoroski is the special prosecutor in the case. Boone County Circuit Judge Joshua Calvin Devine has ordered McWilliams to appear in court in-person this morning at 10 for his pre-trial conference. Judge Devine has scheduled a four-day jury trial that will start on November 19 at the Boone County Courthouse.
McWilliams owned McLanks restaurant on Columbia’s Paris road.
