Kriti Mehrotra
When James “Jim” Cornwell III was found dead near the door of his open garage in the early hours of July 2, 2005, it left the entire small town of St. James, Missouri, in a state of shock. That’s because the 52-year-old had been heinously killed, and locals could not remember the last time such a crime had occurred in the area, so they were absolutely terrified. Thankfully, with the help of witness statements, strong physical evidence, and a composite sketch, authorities were able to positively identify the perpetrator within a few months. This much, and more, has since even been profiled in ID’s ‘Murder in the Heartland: Death of a Ladies Man.’
James “Jim” Cornwell Was Shot Once in the Face With a Shotgun
Born around 1952/1953 in St. Louis, Missouri, James “Jim” Cornwell had reportedly managed to build a good life for himself by the early 2000s as a great friend, loving father, and hard worker. According to the aforementioned original, he shared a tight-knit bond with both of his adult children, Bo Cornwell and Vanessa Cornwell Matzenbacher, and had an unwavering passion for cars. However, the one thing he was arguably best known for in his small city was being a “ladies’ man,” with an undeniable soft spot for “single mothers” as well as “damsels in distress.” He liked being in relationships, and he made no apologies for it.
Jim was always someone whose care knew no bounds, so he never hesitated to lend a shoulder or a living space to those in need, but it often evolved into passionate romances. In fact, in July 2005, the 52-year-old was living in his suburban home with a single mother named Kay Evans, and she was the one to find him moments after hearing a gunshot ring out. It was roughly 12:45 am on July 2 when she dialed 911, yet it was already too late — his injuries from the shotgun bullet to the left side of his face were immediately fatal. Since he was shot at close range right at the edge of his garage, there was no chance of resuscitation either.
Authorities Looked into Several Suspects in James “Jim” Cornwell’s Case
Although Kay was sobbing and panicking during her call to the dispatcher and in her initial interview with officials, she was able to provide them with some significant details. She revealed she had seen a strange man carrying a “long” gun, dressed in dark clothing, and wearing a baseball cap, simply walk up to the garage, following which she heard the gunshot. She then saw the same stranger run back to a faded, dark-colored car, get in the passenger side, and flee the scene, yet at no point could she properly see either his or the driver’s face. Her account was corroborated by a couple of other individuals who were at the scene.
With the way Jim was killed, Kay’s statements, and the shotgun shell casing recovered from the grass beside the garage opening, investigators were certain this was a personal attack. Therefore, they began looking into the victim’s personal experiences and any possible enemies he may have, initially leading them to Kay’s allegedly violent recent ex-boyfriend, Kevin Copeland. As per the episode, he had not only not taken the breakup well but was also so furious at Jim for starting a romance with her that he had allegedly once even threatened to take his life.
However, Kevin had a solid alibi, so officials shifted their focus to another possible suspect they had identified as Robert “Bob” Ray, whose ex-girlfriend had briefly dated Jim, too. Since he also had an alibi, other avenues started being investigated, resulting in the name of a locally well-known criminal coming up for an entirely different reason. After all, a community member contacted the police to let them know that a strange man had knocked on her front door shortly before the murder, asking for “Jim.” Her description of this man matched the one provided by Kay to a tee, and since she admitted she only knew local offender James “Jimmy” Neal as Jim, detectives wondered if maybe he was possibly the killer’s original target. They then had a composite sketch of the assailant made.
James “Jim” Cornwell’s Assailant Was Identified in Early October 2022
Although the lead of Jimmy Neal and the possibility of Jim’s homicide being a case of mistaken identity seemed to go nowhere, it did come to light that even they shared an ex-girlfriend. Therefore, Christine Watkins and her boyfriend, Benjamin “Ben” Hardy, were asked to come in for an interview on July 21, 2005, which they did, despite having recently moved out of town. There were some discrepancies in their stories, with her admitting they visited Jim days before his murder and his claiming he’d never been to his home, but they weren’t deemed suspects.
While Ben was known to be the best mechanic in the area, Christine also had a good reputation, and they even seemed to have alibis in the form of receipts for a rental car as well as a motel. She had told officials they left St. Lewis the day before the fateful night, stayed in a motel in Rolla, and then came to St. James to pack up her property before returning to St. Lewis to live together. Their credit cards further verified all these rentals, driving investigators to believe their alibis, only for everything to change in September 2005 when a mutual friend remembered a conversation.
According to the friend, he invited Christine and Ben over to his home for a barbecue a few weeks before the incident, during which the mechanic-entrepreneur asked him about Jimmy Neal. As per the show, he specified he wanted to kill Jimmy because he had allegedly abused the woman who was now a big part of his life, but the friend simply didn’t think much of it at that point. The friend relayed all this to detectives as soon as he remembered in September, following which they began asking around about the duo to indirectly let them know they were looking into them.
Benjamin “Ben” Hardy is Currently Serving Life in Prison for Murder
It was on October 2, 2005, when Christine herself came to a St. James police station, asserting she was ready to talk and reveal the truth because she hadn’t been completely honest previously. She told them that when they had gone to their mutual friend Wayne’s house a week or two before the murder, Jim Cornwell was also there, and they had all talked for a long while before leaving. On the drive back, she said, Ben claimed he believed there was a “conspiracy” against him, with Jim and Wayne only pretending to be his friends to relay negative information to Jimmy.
Christine continued, “(Ben) was upset about that. He then said what he wanted to do was take out all of his friends and associates,” as in he wanted to kill Jim, Wayne, and Jimmy. Thus, on the evening the couple was moving, she confessed to the authorities, Ben got drunk, changed into dark clothes, and had her drive to a woman’s house before ordering her to go to Jim’s house. There, she revealed, he shot the 52-year-old father of two and had her flee the scene. Wayne was out camping on the fateful night, so it’s unclear wheather the couple had stopped by his home or not. Christine further told officials Ben had practiced shooting at a log near his workplace, from where they recovered a shell casing that was an exact match to the one recovered from the crime scene.
She even revealed she and Ben had wiped down her car together, thrown away the visible shotgun shell casings, and disposed of the disassembled weapon at her former residence. However, in the end, she was never charged with a crime as investigators believed she had acted purely at the behest of her boyfriend and under complete duress/in fear. On the other hand, Ben was arrested on one count of first-degree murder the same day Christine gave her statements. He was eventually found guilty as charged, following which he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on October 2, 2008. So, today, at the age of 59, he is incarcerated at the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center, where he is expected to remain for the rest of his natural life.
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