A complaint filed in the Magistrate Court of Calhoun on May 5th, 2025 by Deputy H.M. Stephens stated that on 12/04/2024, she had taken a complaint from the victim, who stated that her estranged husband, James Knicely Jr.,
had threatened to kill her via a Facebook message. Mr. Knicely and the victim had been going through a divorce and having been separated since June 2024.
The victim provided Deputy Stephens with screenshots from multiple occasions when she received Facebook messages from different accounts. In a screenshot from 12/04/24, one such message from a Facebook account labeled “James E Knicely,” stated “I dnt care if we are apart or not I catch u with someone else I will kill you and them.” The victim stated that she feared he would follow through on that plan and that he had beaten her before. She also received a message from aFacebook account of “Johnny Ritchards” on 10/09/24, telling her to “message James Knicely because this is him.” On 09/04/24, she had received a message from the Facebook account of “John Bou.” stating that he missed her and his son and wanted to see them.” She also received a message from
Facebook account “James Knicely Jr., ” stating “ur not gonna like what’s coming sweetie.”
The victim stated that he had come to her house in July while her parents were gone and wanted her to let him in. She stated that she had been afraid when that occurred. She provided a video of that as well. At the time, the victim expressed a desire to carry a firearm in order to protect herself from Mr. Knicely.
In February 2025, Deputy H.M. Stephens obtained a search warrant for the Facebook accounts of “James E Knicely,” “Johnny Richards,” and ” James Knicely Jr.” (Mr. Knicely’s personal Facebook account). From this search warrant, she discovered that the phone number associated with the Johnny Ritchards account was registered to James Knicely Jr. as well as James E Knicely account was associated with 2 devices that were also connected to James Knicely Jr.’s account. One of those devices was also connected to the Johnny Ritchards account, establishing a connection among all three accounts. All 3 accounts were shown as blocked by the victim’s account, demonstrating her desire to stop communications.
Deputy Stephens later later spoke to the victim a second time, who confirmed that Mr. Knicely possessed an iPhone
14 which is the same kind of device linked to the James & Knicely account that sent the victim.
James Knicely was charged with (1) Stalking, (2) Threatening Communication by Electronic Communication, and (3) Harrassment in Case Number 25-MO7M-00093.
