Deputy Sheriff Gus McGuff was the victim in Fields of Murder (Case #43 of The Conspiracy).
Profile
Gus was the Deputy Sheriff of Spring Fields with short blond hair and blue eyes. At the time of his death, he was seen wearing a sand beige collared shirt with buttoned pockets and the PD lapel on both sleeves. He also wore a black tie with a gold tie clip, a pair of black pants and black shoes.
Murder details
Gus was found shot dead near a burning cornfield by Gloria and the player. Per Martine and Rita's examination of the body, the victim was shot at point-blank range with a specialized sawed-off shotgun. Martine also noted the fact that she discovered saddle oil on the victim's carotid artery, presumably due to the killer checking for a pulse. As there was saddle oil on the victim, it proved the killer rode horses.
Later, the detectives found a sawed-off shotgun in the tractor barn which they sent to Rita, who confirmed it as the murder weapon as she had found minute traces of the victim's blood. Although the weapon yielded unusable prints, the black smudges of soot helped Rita confirm that, in order to have soot on the weapon, the killer must have had plenty of soot on their clothing as well. This proved the killer had soot stains on their clothing.
Relationship with suspects
Although Gus was helpful around Spring Fields, Sheriff Roy Loukas thought he was too forceful with the residents and so threatened him to tone down his attitude. Gus had accused chicken farmer Abby Lee of poisoning her neighbor's chickens after confiscating her poison. Gus kept coming after corn farmer Cody Mays and falsely accusing him of crimes after learning that he had spent eighteen months in jail for robbing a Pacific Bay gas station. Gus' foster brother, Lorenzo Sims, came to Spring Fields to ask for his help in settling down and getting his life back together, but Gus turned him away. Gus recently got into a big argument with his fiancée, Christy Cole, because he was planning to leave Spring Fields but she did not want to. Gus had also gotten Christy pregnant out of wedlock.
Killer and motives
The killer turned out to be Cody.
Admitting to the murder, Cody said that someone had bribed him to set his cornfields on fire and to leave no witnesses. However, when he saw that Gus had seen him do the deed, he shot him in the chest point-blank with a DIY sawed-off shotgun. After he said that he did not know who had bribed him, Judge Powell sentenced him to 50 years in prison.
Case appearances
- Fields of Murder (Case #43 of The Conspiracy)
- A Pointy End (Case #45 of The Conspiracy; mentioned)
- Like a Pig to the Slaughter (Case #46 of The Conspiracy; mentioned)
