SCOTT COUNTY FIRE CHIEF, SHERIFF'S DEPUTY, ARRESTED IN WIFE'S MURDER
Warning: the following content may be disturbing to some readers.
If you love either Shelby or Jeremy Perrien, it might not be worth the read.
April 20, 2025: Scott County Fire Chief and Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Perrien sent a string of messages to his wife, Shelby Perrien.
“You 100% will need a body bag if I stay with you. Each time my rage is worse.”
“I’d be lying to you if I told you that I was hoping you wouldn’t commit suicide…”
“I meant it then and I mean it right now. You pull out a gun to blow your head off, and there won’t be an ounce of my body that moves in an attempt to stop you. That’s how done I am.”
“You’re the one that has betrayed my trust, you’re the one that has me fucking homicidal and suicidal all at the same time. Like I’m here to tell you I am not good. I am not good at fucking all.”
June 29, 2025: Shelby Perrien died in the car her husband was driving. Jeremy claimed that she died by gun suicide. He sent her a string of messages in the hour leading up to her death.
“I don’t know if you figured it out or not, but sober or drunk, I’m not the fucking one to fuck around with…”
“Yeah… I don’t give a fuck if you ever get home. I hope you get raped and ass fucked tonight.”
“… I hope you get raped and throat fucked because you didn’t check your phone and didn’t communicate properly, and you drink too fucking much before I ever got off work.”
When law enforcement arrived on scene, Shelby was unresponsive, but breathing. Jeremy was holding Shelby’s head up with two fingers down her throat. His actions came down to his training. If someone has been shot, their airway needs to be open. Blood, vomit, and debris blocking the airway can kill you.
This is all according to the probable-cause affidavit filed in the arrest of Jeremy Perrien on August 20, 2026. He is charged with Murder (2nd degree), Harassment (1st degree), Domestic Assault (2nd degree), and two counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence in a Felony Prosecution.
During the investigation, Shelby’s phone was searched. Investigators found a video inside a hidden folder on her phone. It was recorded May 19, 2025. The affidavit says it depicted Jeremy and a redacted victim (Shelby) inside a bedroom. Jeremy was seen standing beside the bed when he allegedly grabbed his hat and smacked her in the face with it. “I want to kill you so fucking bad right now” he said. Jeremy was also seen grabbing Shelby’s throat with two hands, pushing her onto the bed, and punching her in the ribcage.
“I’ll kill them motherfuckers. I want everybody dead.” Jeremy then threw his wedding ring at her, saying “Take that motherfucker. I’m never wearing that son of a bitch again.” Shelby said, “Okay, so you want me to fuck everybody else but him?” Jeremy grabbed her again, pushed her face into the bed with his left hand while gripping the back of her neck, and began punching her. Shelby said, “Kill me, damnit.” Jeremy said, “I’m going to kill you!”
Jeremy told investigators that he and his wife were “swingers.” The night Shelby died, they’d gone out to Hot Shots in Cape, but “couldn’t find anyone who caught their attention.” On the way home, Shelby apparently laughed and said to him, “You really think you’re slick, don’t ya?” That’s when Jeremy told investigators he got upset, got out of the vehicle, and told Shelby to find her own way home.
HUSH HUSH AND MEDIA SCUFFLE
In the year that followed Shelby’s death, many folks wondered if anything would come of it. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was investigating her death — they never ruled it a suicide — but her husband was allowed to go about his daily life.
Jeremy continued working as a fire chief and part-time deputy sheriff. Until Shelby died, he also worked as an assistant coroner. Scott County Coroner John Caudle told me he fired Jeremy from that role following Shelby’s death. “They didn’t even take his gun away from him as an officer, I just couldn’t believe it.”
From first word that Shelby “died by suicide,” people questioned whether that was true. Evidence outlined in the probable-cause affidavit substantiates those concerns.
A local paper, the Southeast Missourian, first learned about Shelby’s death through a telephone tip. The wife of a Fire Chief shot herself dead in the car with her husband, but not everyone thinks she did it. The newspaper requested the incident report from the Scott County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Derrick Wheetley told them to contact the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which took over the investigation.
When newspaper staff contacted state Highway Patrol, they denied the request too. Patrol cited 610.100.2, RSMo., saying the incident report would not be released due to an ongoing investigation.
But incident reports are open record under the law they cited. Investigative reports are closed records until an investigation is inactive. Incident reports are open record.
In September 2025, the paper published an opinion piece criticizing the Sheriff’s Office and state Highway Patrol for non-compliance of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. After this, state Highway Patrol created and sent a “general incident report.” This is not the record that was requested. The Southeast Missourian made a complaint to the Attorney General.
By October, they’d requested and received heavily redacted open records from the Scott City Police Department. The Scott City Police Department was not on the scene when Shelby died but they did operate the 911 communications center.
On April Fool’s Day, Sheriff Wheetley wrote a post on Facebook. He was criticizing the Southeast Missourian for their coverage and interest in the case.
“First, I ask everyone to stop and think, why is this currently the only news outlet pushing this narrative? The simple answer is because this case has been, and still is, under investigation…”
“From the very beginning, the call for service came out as a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound. Due to the nature of the call and the individuals involved, we immediately turned the investigation over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control to ensure transparency and avoid any conflict of interest…”
“Outside of formal requests for paperwork tied to the active investigation, there has been no effort to have a direct, honest conversation on why information wouldn’t be released. If the goal was truly to seek truth or why certain things are being done, that opportunity has always been there for the reporter… We will not compromise or sensationalize an active investigation for the sake of media coverage.”
Less than two months later, Sheriff Wheetley sent the Southeast Missourian the open records they requested. The Attorney General reportedly asked him to do so.
CONTINUING COVERAGE: THE MUTUAL IDENTITY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
For months, I’ve been inquiring into the mutual identity of law enforcement.
I asked Coroner Caudle about his experience working with Perrien over the years. “Jeremy Perrien has been in law enforcement, EMS, and fire since he got out of high school. Basically the same as me. Well, he embedded himself so deep in that and got along with everyone, that’s just how that world is. You gain the trust of a lot of people. But there’s always been negative stuff about him… Things like that, things that were never substantiated.”
“He is so good at befriending people. He befriended me. He befriended the now sheriff. He went to the Scott County Rural Fire Department which was this little place that needed lots of help and turned it upside down. That is no lie. It went from nothing — one fire truck — to a full-time operating fire department. He gained a lot of respect because of that. He was a very charismatic person, always in the media. He would give gifts out during Christmas. But he’s a narcissist. I found that out over the past couple of years. I distanced myself from the man after seeing all of this.”
Following Perrien’s arrest, Sheriff Wheetley made another statement on Facebook. Here is the August 21, 2026 statement in part.
“We have also seen and heard accusations that the Scott County Sheriff’s Office was somehow covering for Mr. Perrien because of his association with law enforcement. I want to be absolutely clear: that was never the case.”
“The original call for service was reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. [We turned the investigation over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol to ensure there would be no conflict of interest].”
“I personally knew both Shelby and Jeremy. I worked alongside Jeremy at numerous fire scenes and calls for service. This has never been something I took lightly, and I wanted the truth just as much as Shelby’s family, friends, and this community did.”
“Today’s charges demonstrate exactly why we turned this investigation over from the beginning and why we remained patient and allowed independent agencies to follow the evidence wherever it led.”
“An arrest and the filing of criminal charges are not a conviction. Jeremy Perrien is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
Why were the open records withheld?
Both your jurisdiction and the state Highway Patrol withheld that open record, incorrectly citing state law. Does this indicate to the public a substantial enough separation of jurisdictions to prevent conflicts of interest? Or does this indicate a failure to comply with law?
If not ignorance, why else would both jurisdictions fail to follow the law? Also, would there even be any consequences for failing to comply? Who holds you accountable? The public does.
Public perception is one of the harshest forms of accountability. That light is blinding and bright. It hurts. It burns. When one of you faces this light, all of your badges reflect it back like a magnifying glass on the whole group of you. All eyes are now on you, and you cannot do anything right because the light is so bright your vision is blind.
How much does this have to do with why that open record was withheld?