Kansas City man pleads guilty in Northland murder where victim was stabbed, set on fire

A Kansas City man pleaded guilty to killing a 33-year-old who was found stabbed to death in a Gladstone apartment after a neighbor had called 911 to report a fire in the building.

Noah T. Cole, 24, has been jailed on a $1 million bond since his arrest 15 months ago. On Wednesday, Cole admitted in Clay County Circuit Court to one count of second-degree murder in the killing of Matthew Stauch, who died in November 2021.

As part of the plea agreement filed Wednesday, Clay County prosecutors will recommend Cole spend 28 years in prison on the murder conviction. Prosecutors also agreed to drop three other pending felony charges of armed criminal action, arson and burglary.

On Nov. 29, 2021, firefighters were dispatched to the London Towers Apartment Complex at 2505 NE Shady Lane Dr. after a person called 911 to report their apartment was filling up with smoke.

The source of the fire was determined to be a neighboring unit. After entering, firefighters discovered Stauch, the resident, face down in the back bedroom. Neighbors were ordered to leave the building as the fire was put out.

Homicide detectives found apparent puncture wounds on Stauch’s back and neck. It also appeared that Stauch had been “lit on fire,” according to charging documents, based on burn patterns to his clothes and charring on his body.

An autopsy was completed two days later. It revealed that Stauch had been stabbed approximately 40 times with a small-bladed instrument. His death was ruled a homicide.

In addition to several valuable items missing from his apartment, including a guitar signed by the cast of “Seinfeld,” Stauch’s vehicle and cell phone were not found at the scene of the killing.

Detectives connected Cole to the homicide by tracking the stolen vehicle and witness reports from other violent crimes, including a separate fatal shooting in Kansas City. He was also suspected of burglarizing a store where a shotgun was stolen from behind the counter, according to court documents, and detectives compared surveillance video with his driver’s license photo.

Missing items from Stauch’s apartment were recovered from Cole’s residence in the 6000 block of St. John Avenue in Kansas City after police executed a search warrant there. They also found tax papers and a prescription bottle with Stauch’s name on them. Several knives were taken as evidence.

Cole is scheduled to be sentenced in Clay County on May 10 before Judge Shane T. Alexander.