A Jefferson County jury has found Timothy W. O’Hara, 47, of Dittmer guilty of two felonies and a misdemeanor for storming into a Festus home in September and threatening a woman who lived there and assaulting her husband.
After two and a half hours of deliberation, the jury handed down the verdict on March 2, following a three-day trial in front of Jefferson County Div. 5 Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink.
He faces up to seven years in prison for second-degree burglary, a class D felony, up to four years in prison for unlawful use of a weapon, a class E felony, and up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000 for fourth-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor.
Sentencing is set for May 16.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, O’Hara broke into the Festus couple’s house in the 600 block of South Adams Street early on Sept. 22, waking the 72-year-old woman and 76-year-old man. O’Hara went into a bedroom where the woman was sleeping and demanded she tell him where he could find a woman he believed was in the house.
Festus Police said no other woman was in the house at the time.
According to the reports, the husband tried to intervene, and O’Hara pushed the man to the ground. The Festus man left to get help from a neighbor and returned with a handgun the neighbor gave him, but O’Hara charged at the victim while swinging a knife. The victim dropped the gun, and O’Hara grabbed it, pointed it at the man and pulled the trigger, but there was no round in the chamber. Police arrived and took O’Hara into custody.
O’Hara was being held March 7 in the Jefferson County Jail.
He was facing one count of first-degree assault, a class A felony that carries a penalty of 10 to 30 years or life in prison, but the jury found him not guilty of that charge and instead convicted him of the lesser assault charge. Also, O’Hara was facing two counts of armed criminal action, an unclassified felony that is punishable by no less than three years in prison, and the jury found him not guilty on those charges.