A Boone County grand jury has issued a new superceding indictment against a Columbia man accused of killing a woman with a hammer in 2022.
The grand jury has indicted 39-year-old Adam Alfred Conner for second degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with physical evidence for the October 2022 beating death of 59-year-old Patricia Kelly at a home on High Quest drive, north of Smiley lane.
The three-page indictment replaces previous charges and adds the new armed criminal action charge.
It took Columbia Police several days to make a positive identification in October 2022, due to the victim’s horrific injuries. The new indictment, which was unsealed Friday, says the victim was beaten with a hammer. Columbia Police Sergeant Neil Sedgwick has previously said that the victim was found hidden inside a closet and had suffered severe blunt trauma to the head.
Conner is scheduled to go on trial for murder on November 5 in Boone County Circuit Court, and Judge Kevin Crane will preside over the trial. Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi is prosecuting the case, and Conner is being represented by public defender Kaitlyn Bullard.
