Man charged after beating father to death with golf club, deputies say

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    HILLSBORO, MO (KMOV) — A son beat his father to death with a golf club in Hillsboro early Thursday morning, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities said deputies were called to the 1000 block of Tracy Lane around 3:15 a.m. for a disturbance.

According to the sheriff’s department, 27-year-old Nicholas Smoot was involved in a domestic dispute with his fiancee when his father tried to intervene. Police later said Smoot’s fiancee suffered injuries to her head and arms.

Smoot’s fiancee told officers Smoot forced her down on a bed and floor and physically assaulted her. She told officers he bit her right forearm and her nose.

Nicholas Smoot and his father began fighting when the father tried to intervene. Police said that’s when Smoot picked up a metal golf club and beat his father.

Smoot’s fiancee told police she saw Smoot hit his father twice in the stomach.

Officers say Nicholas Smoot was holding a bottle over his father’s body when they entered the room, as though he was ready to hit him with it.

Smoot’s father, Eric Smoot, 53, was pronounced dead around 6 a.m. at a hospital.

Nicholas Smoot was arrested by deputies at the scene and was later charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and second-degree domestic assault.

Both men and the fiancee live in the house.

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