Leslie Reeves and Chris Smith: Shooting, 85-Year Sentence, Murder-for-Hire

The Leslie Reeves murder was the Thanksgiving-eve 2021 shooting of a 45-year-old Troy, Illinois mother and domestic violence advocate who was killed on a first date at the Farmersville home of Chris Smith. Her ex-boyfriend, Robert “Bobby” Tarr, broke into the house, shot both Reeves and Smith in the head, and left them for dead. Smith survived after roughly 12 hours on his kitchen floor. In April 2024, a Montgomery County jury convicted Tarr of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 85 years in prison. An Illinois appellate court affirmed that sentence in April 2026.¹²

What Happened That Night

On the evening of November 24, 2021, Leslie Reeves drove to Farmersville to meet Chris Smith for a first date at his home on Nobbie Street. Around midnight, an intruder broke through a side door. Investigators later found the kitchen in disarray. The refrigerator had been pulled from the wall. Chairs were overturned. Blood covered the cabinets, counters, and floor. A pizza was still burning in the oven. Two 9 mm shell casings were recovered inside.¹

Smith was shot in the head in the kitchen. Reeves was shot once in the head in the living room, where investigators believe she had tried to flee or hide. No weapon was found at the scene, and no suspect fingerprints or DNA were recovered inside the house.¹

The two were not found until the following afternoon. At 12:42 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office received a welfare-check request. Deputies arrived to find Smith barely conscious on the kitchen floor, curled in the fetal position, with his beagle-terrier mix Tiki pressed against him. The broken side door had left the house open to overnight cold, and first responders credited the dog with helping keep him warm.³⁴ Reeves was pronounced dead at the scene. Smith was flown to HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield in critical condition.⁵

Who Leslie Reeves Was

Reeves was a divorced mother who held a master’s degree in engineering before shifting careers to run All You Studio and Party Place in Troy, where she taught yoga, fitness, chair dancing, and self-defense. She was known locally as a domestic violence advocate who worked with shelters, counselors, and nonprofits, and she sometimes moved class locations so that only invited participants knew where to find them.⁶

Dawn Mushill, executive director of the Troy/Maryville/St. Jacob/Marine Chamber of Commerce, described Reeves as “powerful, lovable, strong, gracious, vulnerable and funny,” and said “the tragedy to this situation is that she lost her life in the same way that she protected others.”³ After her death, St. John Neumann Catholic School set up an online tuition fund for her children.⁶

The Ex-Boyfriend and the Warnings Before the Killing

Friends described Reeves’ relationship with Tarr, a 48-year-old pool contractor from Collinsville, as on-again, off-again, controlling, and frightening. According to court records, the relationship ended in the summer of 2021.² Tarr told investigators that he and Reeves were still together and that their problems were “no worse than any average couple.”¹

Reeves had told friends she was afraid of him. Her friend Nanette Stuiber said Reeves had decided to go “no contact.” Another friend, Amy Steinhauer, said Tarr had shown up uninvited weeks earlier while Reeves was on a different date. Afterward, Reeves texted Steinhauer: “I could be killed by him someday if I don’t cut all contact.”¹

On the night of the shooting, a friend tipped Tarr off that Reeves had driven to Farmersville. He texted back: “I don’t feel like she would drive that far for a party or go out with a girlfriend, I think it’s for a dude.”⁷ Prosecutors argued he then drove there with hollow-point ammunition intending to kill.

How Investigators Tied Tarr to the Shooting

Tarr was quickly identified as a person of interest because of the prior relationship. When Collinsville police first questioned him, he said he had never heard of Farmersville, did not know Chris Smith, and had not left his house that night. Those claims unraveled fast. License plate reader cameras captured his Volkswagen Jetta leaving and returning to the area around midnight on November 25. When deputies located the car, it had been freshly washed and the floorboard was still soaking wet. Witnesses said Tarr had left home that night and returned in the early morning hours looking “upset and disheveled.” Prosecutors cited a text message showing he knew both Reeves and Smith were at the Farmersville address.⁸

Deputies arrested him at his Collinsville home the Friday after Thanksgiving.⁹ The prosecution’s case was heavily circumstantial but layered. The murder weapon, a Springfield Hellcat 9 mm pistol, was recovered in a Ziploc bag in Tarr’s yard after his own brother alerted authorities, having heard a recorded jail call in which Tarr allegedly told a friend to retrieve and dispose of items he called “aluminum brackets.” Tarr’s fingerprint was on the bag; Reeves’ DNA was on the gun’s guide rod; and the Illinois State Police confirmed the pistol fired the bullets recovered at the scene.¹

Cell tower data placed Tarr’s phone near Farmersville that night. Deleted search history on his phone showed he had looked up Chris Smith’s name and address earlier that evening, along with Facebook profiles and information about VPNs to mask his location.² A gas station receipt from shortly after midnight further undercut his alibi, and he eventually admitted to investigators that he had been lying.¹

Verdict and 85-Year Sentence

Tarr’s jury trial took place in April 2024 in Montgomery County, with Fourth Judicial Circuit Associate Judge Christopher W. Matoush presiding. Montgomery County State’s Attorney Andrew Affrunti led the prosecution; Daniel Fultz and Mark Wykoff represented Tarr. Tarr did not testify. Chris Smith did, describing the bullet still lodged in his brain, two strokes, left-side paralysis, and six brain surgeries.²¹⁰

The jury convicted Tarr of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, and specifically found that he personally discharged the firearm causing death and permanent disfigurement, which triggered mandatory sentencing enhancements.²¹¹¹⁰

Tarr’s motion for a new trial was denied, as was a motion to reconsider sentence on August 9, 2024. He then appealed to the Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, arguing the sentence was excessive, that the trial court had overweighted aggravating factors, ignored his rehabilitative potential, and penalized him for maintaining his innocence. The appellate court rejected each argument and affirmed the 85-year sentence on April 6, 2026.²

Separate Murder-for-Hire Charges

While awaiting trial, Tarr was indicted in September 2022 on two additional counts of solicitation of murder. Prosecutors alleged he had paid a fellow inmate to kill Chris Smith and a Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy who was working the case.¹² Those charges were later dismissed and never went to trial.¹

Chris Smith’s Survival

Smith’s survival was itself unlikely. After being shot and spending about 12 hours on his kitchen floor, he was placed in a medically induced coma for nearly two months. At one point, doctors told his family there was “no hope” and recommended withdrawing life support.¹³ He underwent six brain surgeries and suffered two strokes. The bullet remains lodged in his brain because doctors deemed removal too dangerous.¹⁴

Now 52, Smith lives with partial paralysis on his left side and a traumatic brain injury. His recovery has included years of physical and occupational therapy and a stem cell transplant, and he lost his home to foreclosure during his long hospitalization.¹³¹ He has since bought a new home, returned to performing with a rock and roll band, become engaged to Michelle Albrecht, and begun work as a motivational speaker. In April 2025 he published a memoir, My Fatal First Date, about the shooting and his recovery.⁴

1
CBS News. Leslie Reeves, Chris Smith, Bobby Tarr: First Date Ended in Horror
2
Illinois Courts. People v. Tarr, No. 5-24-0918
3
Belleville News-Democrat. Troy Businesswoman Shot and Killed in Farmersville
4
CBS News. Tiki the Dog: Illinois Man Chris Smith Gunshot
5
State Journal-Register. Woman Killed, Man Hurt in Montgomery County Farmersville Shooting
6
Audacy/KMOX. Admired Illinois Woman Allegedly Killed by Ex-Boyfriend
7
The Intelligencer. Leslie Reeves Murder: 5 Things From CBS 48 Hours
8
The Intelligencer. Reeves Shooting: Tarr’s Bond Raised to $3 Million
9
WSMI Radio. Local News: Farmersville Shooting Arrest
10
State Journal-Register. An Illinois Man Will Spend 85 Years in Prison for Murder
11
First Alert 4. Collinsville Man Sentenced to 85 Years in Prison for 2021 Murder
12
WGEL. Montgomery County Murder for Hire Indictment
13
First Alert 4. St. Charles County Man Who Survived Attempted Murder to Release Motivational Book
14
KBTX. Man Shot in Head on First Date Hopes to Motivate Others After Defying Odds