Bio

Glennon Paul Sweet was born on June 30, 1955. He grew up in Missouri. In 1974, at the age of 18, Sweet was found guilty of possessing marijuana. He received a one-year sentence in a county jail. He also faced multiple fines for disturbing the peace during this time.

By 1975, he was in trouble again. Sweet was sentenced to three years in prison for shooting into a dwelling and for felony assault. His sentence execution was suspended, and he was placed on probation. He completed his probation in 1978.

Between 1978 and 1982, Sweet continued to have run-ins with the law, receiving fines for various offenses such as affray and property destruction. He was also sentenced to serve time for stealing and creating a disturbance.

In 1983, Sweet was sentenced to 30 days in jail for driving under the influence. This led to two years of unsupervised probation.

As he grew older, Sweet's legal issues persisted. He accumulated multiple charges over the years, including several related to disturbances and drug offenses. 

In the years leading up to his most serious offense, Sweet was involved in drug-related activities, and he reportedly had connections to the illegal drug trade. This pattern of behavior set the stage for the violent crime he would later commit in 1987.

Murder Story

On February 8, 1987, Trooper Russell Harper of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was stationed on Highway 60 near Springfield when he detected a speeding red Chevrolet pickup truck. Trooper Harper activated his sirens and pursued the truck, which stopped on a nearby farm road. Before Harper could exit his patrol car, Glennon Paul Sweet, who was driving the truck, jumped out and shot at the trooper multiple times with an H.K. 93 semiautomatic assault rifle. One bullet struck Harper in the head, fatally injuring him. Investigators later found twenty-nine bullet holes in the patrol car.

After the shooting, Sweet went to the home of Donald Bills. There, the two men worked on modifying Sweet's truck to disguise it. Sweet also shaved his mustache as part of his attempt to avoid detection.

The next day, February 9, law enforcement received a tip about Sweet's whereabouts, leading them to the Bills residence. When they searched the area, officers found an H.K. 93 assault rifle in a junked vehicle close to the house. Further investigation with a search warrant led them to discover Sweet hiding in the attic of the property.

Witnesses identified Sweet as the shooter, and ballistics tests matched the rifle found at the scene of the crime with the weapon used in the shooting. Sweet was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Following a five-day trial, he was convicted on December 12, 1987. The jury recommended the death penalty, which was imposed by the court in January 1988. Sweet's appeals, including efforts to challenge his conviction and sentence, were ultimately unsuccessful, and he remained on death row for several years.

He was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on April 22, 1998. In his final statement, Sweet maintained his innocence, stating, "I didn't shoot the trooper."