Convicted dad murderer arrested after domestic disturbance

A man from Joplin, who spent more than a decade in prison for killing his father, is facing new charges after a domestic disturbance on Sunday.

46-year-old Dustin Fanning is accused of chasing and threatening his girlfriend with a hatchet.

The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office says she ran to the neighbor’s house to ask for help. That’s when another man tried to take the hatchet away from Fanning, but Fanning hit him in the back of the head and started breaking windows of the home.

Fanning allegedly fled the scene but was arrested in a nearby wooded area after he was tased.

He was booked into the Jasper County Jail for:

• Assault
• Domestic Assault
• Burglary
• Armed Criminal Action
• Property Damage
• Unlawful Use of a Weapon

In 2008, Fanning was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the beating death of his elderly father. Fanning was released on parole in 2022. That parole was revoked in 2023 when he was charged with felony assault, but he was released to the community again in 2024.