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Richmond man allegedly shot his girlfriend in the head because she "pushed his buttons" by staying out all night with another man, according to a court document.
Stephen A. Via, 29, allegedly described the killing of Stacey Mosier in their South 19th Street home to a woman who later supplied police with the information, according to an affidavit of probable cause charging Via with murder. The woman came across Via; his father, Stephen D. Via; and another woman Friday in a white Pontiac that the informant recognized as belonging to Mosier.
The informant then helped the Vias obtain a Centerville hotel room, provided transportation to them and learned about the events allegedly surrounding Mosier's death. Her information led to the Saturday afternoon arrests of the Vias at the Super 8 Motel located at Centerville Road and Interstate 70.
Stephen D. Via, 48, is charged with possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon (a Level 4 felony) and obstruction of justice (a Level 6 felony). He remained Monday afternoon in the Wayne County Jail on a $75,000, surety-only bond. His son is being held in the jail without bond.
Both Vias are scheduled for initial hearings at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Wayne County Circuit Court.
RPD Capt. Kevin Wampler said Monday the investigation into Mosier's death continues. He said an autopsy is being performed in Indianapolis to officially determine the cause and time of death, which Wampler said is believed to be a gunshot wound inflicted fewer than 48 hours before the Vias' arrests.
Investigators also must wait on a ballistics report for a weapon recovered during the investigation, he said.
According to Wampler, RPD was contacted about mid-morning Saturday by the informant claiming to have information about Mosier's death. The informant described to investigators Mosier's relationship with the younger Via as violent and said they often consumed illegal drugs, the affidavit said.
She explained she rented a hotel room for the Vias, then went to work. After work, she returned to the hotel and learned about the killing. She also said the younger Via had taken a shower and given his clothing and boots to his father.
The informant then drove the elder Via on Interstate 70 toward Richmond, when she said he threw a boot out of the car window. They then stopped at a Salvation Army drop box on North West Fifth Street, and Via deposited his son's clothes into the box, the affidavit said. The pair then drove to Via's North West I Street residence and back to the hotel.
At the hotel, the elder Via told the informant that he had put some fishing poles and a tackle box in the informant's car, and he said he was going to throw "the piece" into a pond when he went fishing, leading the informant to believe a gun was in the tackle box.
After talking with the informant, officers located a man's boot that appeared to have blood stains in the location described off I-70 and found clothing that matched the description of that worn by the younger Via in the drop box, according to the affidavit. A bloody tank top also was located in a trash receptacle near the hotel.
"We had sufficient corroborating evidence and information to validate a search warrant," Wampler said.
Officers then served the warrant at the South 19th Street home and found Mosier's body in an upstairs bedroom.
A .380 semi-automatic handgun was found inside the elder Via's tackle box when officers executed another warrant.
When questioned by investigators, the younger Via described the shooting as an accident, the affidavit said. The elder Via, who allegedly corroborated the informant's story, also told investigators his son said the gun went off accidentally, according to the affidavit.
The elder Via was convicted in Wayne County of Class B felony criminal confinement on Nov. 13, 1995, which qualifies him as a serious violent offender and prohibits him from possessing a firearm, the affidavit said. He also has felony convictions for battery, theft and possession of cocaine as well as two misdemeanor convictions for driving while suspended, according to court records.
The younger Via was convicted in 2009 in Preble County, Ohio, of two first-degree felony aggravated burglary counts and a firearm specification, leading to a six-year prison sentence. He has been convicted of four misdemeanors in Wayne County as well as a felony for his second operating while intoxicated conviction.