Manslaughter Case Against Amish Retreat Owner Sam Shetler to Move to Montgomery County

Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, Missouri, was charged in early 2025 with a series of felony counts. According to court records cited by several outlets, he faced three counts of trafficking for the purposes of forced labor, one count of first-degree sodomy, four counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of first-degree sexual abuse, and one count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. Two of the reports, whose headlines described him as an Amish retreat leader, also said he had forced attendees to take up to 80 pills a day, but the body text available in those reports did not provide details of that claim. These are allegations and charges; the reports do not describe any finding of guilt.

Later in March 2025, reports said Shetler had been charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the 2025 death of a 6-month-old infant, and that additional sex crimes had been added. One report described him as the owner of the Truth and Mercy Retreat in Boonville. Another, from the same period, said he had asked that his criminal case be moved to a different county.

In August 2025, a report said the manslaughter case against Shetler would move to Montgomery County. That report described him as 43 and listed ten counts, including manslaughter, kidnapping, sexual abuse and trafficking. Other reports had given his age as 42. The counts described in that report match the ten counts listed in the earlier court-record reports.

Reports dated 2026 describe later steps. One said Shetler had been indicted by a grand jury in Cooper County on a Friday, though that report did not give a date. Another said authorities in Cooper County, Missouri, executed a search warrant in March 2026 at the Mercy and Truth retreat at 11863 Hidden Valley Court in Boonville. Reports differ on the retreat’s name, with some using Truth and Mercy and others Mercy and Truth. One report described it as an Amish and Mennonite retreat. Several reports on the case use the term “cult-like,” which appears in headlines and is not a finding in the source material.

Protecting the vulnerable is central to the charges involving a child’s death and alleged abuse, a concern reflected in the call to defend those who cannot defend themselves (Psalm 82:3).

According to one report, Shetler was taken into custody on March 25 after a search warrant was executed at the Mercy and Truth-Amish and Mennonite Retreat. The source material does not report a plea, a trial date, or any ruling on the charges.