MONTGOMERY, Ill. — A Montgomery County jury on Friday found a man guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend and attempting to kill a man she was on a date with in 2021.
Robert Tarr was found guilty on four counts, including first-degree murder for the death of Leslie Reeves and the attempted murder of Christopher Smith. The jury returned the guilty verdicts on Tarr's 51st birthday.
Tarr was also charged in 2022 with trying to hire someone to kill the surviving victim and a Montgomery County deputy investigating the case.
On the night before Thanksgiving 2021, Smith and Reeves went on their first date at a bar in Farmersville, Illinois, about 75 miles from St. Louis.
"I just don't get it. All I was trying to do was trying to go out on a date," Smith told 5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend in February.
Smith said Tarr tracked them down, broke into Smith's home and shot them both in the head. The kitchen door was left open and freezing cold air likely saved his life, Smith said.
The next day, relatives said a friend of Leslie Reeves called the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and asked for a welfare check at Smith's Farmersville home.
"My neighbor found me on the floor 14 hours later with my dog cuddled up next to me, trying to keep me warm," Smith said.
Smith suffered multiple strokes and remains paralyzed on the left side of his body.
Tarr was later indicted by a grand jury on two counts of solicitation of murder for hire. Those charges are still awaiting trial.
Investigators said Tarr was in custody when he tried to hire someone to kill Smith and a Montgomery County deputy investigating the case.
