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An eighteen year-old man is facing first-degree murder charges in connection to the weekend death of another teen from Republic.
Gabriel Luke Roche was booked into the Greene County jail about 10 hours after a passerby called authorities about 7:30 a.m. Saturday (12-31) discovering the body of Weston Tyler North, of Republic, lying in a ditch in the area of FR 178, east of Hwy. ZZ. North had been stabbed multiple times and his throat was slit, according to court records.
The area where North’s body was found is southeast of Republic High School and northeast of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield.[adsenseyu1]
According to the probable cause statement used as the basis for the charges, “Roche admitted to being with Michael Roche [his brother] as well as a third subject as they drove Weston North from the Wal-Mart in Republic, Missouri to the location where he was later found deceased. He stated he went there with the purpose to kill Weston North.
He stated he wanted to kill North because he believed North was a “snitch”, informing law enforcement of criminal activity and he wanted his brother to see someone get killed.
Greene County Sgt. Curtis Hunt writes, “Gabriel Luke Roche detailed how he killed Weston North which matched the injuries found on North. He detailed how he first stabbed North with a knife in the chest through the sternum. After North ran from him and he chased after him he said he stabbed North in the back and side. He said North begged for his life and he then cut his throat. The injuries sustained by North were consistent with the injuries Gabriel stated he inflicted on him.”
Sgt. J. Stanley interviewed Michael Roche who corroborated the Gabriel’s statement, “stating his brother Gabriel stabbed North in the chest, chased after North who begged for his life, and cut his throat. Michael Roche indicated that he thought they were walking from the van to a location to look for some of Weston’s belongings but in hindsight should have realized what his brother Gabriel was going to do.”
Gabriel Roche is being held without bond in the Greene County jail. A check of an online census of inmates currently incarcerated in the Greene County jail does not show Michael Roche in the jail at this time.
Sheriff Jim Arnott says he is in the process of releasing additional information concerning North’s murder and will get back to me shortly.

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