Former Benton restaurant owner Timothy “Tim” Steppach was found dead at his home on Wednesday evening. Authorities discovered the 49-year-old deceased after responding to reports of a gunshot. Read more below.
According to the Benton Police Department, officers were notified of a gunshot at a residence in the 300 block of Ashley Street around 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2026. Upon arriving at the scene, they discovered Steppach deceased.
Benton Detective Hamm stated that no foul play is suspected at this time. However, the Saline County Coroner’s Office reported that the body is awaiting an autopsy, and the ongoing investigation is dependent upon those results.
Steppach was the former owner and operator of Tim’s Tavern, a barbecue restaurant on Edison Avenue in Benton. His death follows a series of criminal and civil legal matters over the past few years.
In January and February of 2024, Steppach was arrested by the Benton Police Department on multiple charges of sexual assault involving minor female employees at his restaurant.
In November 2025, Steppach pleaded no contest to three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Minor in the Second Degree. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine, court costs, and was ordered to have no contact with the victims and no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a federal injunction against Steppach in July 2024 amid allegations of child labor violations, failure to pay minimum and overtime wages, keeping worker tips, and worker retaliation at Tim’s Tavern.
More recently, Centennial Bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit in Saline County Circuit Court in March 2026 against Steppach, Tim Steppach LLC, and his ex-wife, Debra Katlyn Roberts, seeking repayment on a commercial loan tied to the restaurant property at 1209 Edison Avenue. That case remained pending in the court system.
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