PINEVILLE, Mo. -- A Missouri man was charged Friday with fatally shooting a Bella Vista man while getting a ride home from a party and then forcing two other people in the vehicle to dump the body along a rural road.
Henry Bridgeford, 25, of Noel is jailed without bond on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Christian Zigmunt, 22, of Bella Vista. Bridgeford also is charged with armed criminal action and two counts of kidnapping. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.
McDonald County, Mo., Sheriff Michael Hall said apparently there were "words exchanged" at the party and Bridgeford "became agitated" as the man who hosted the get-together gave him a ride early Thursday. Hall said after Bridgeford shot Zigmunt, he forced the host and another witness to drive around for about 30 minutes before dumping the body alongside a country road.
Hall said the witnesses dropped Bridgeford off at his house and headed straight to the Sheriff's Office. The "still shaken" men told law enforcement where they could find the body, Hall said.
The Sheriff's Office hasn't determined a motive or what the men may have argued about.
NW News on 02/08/2020