The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and death sentence of 61-year-old Cecil Clayton of Purdy for the 1996 shooting of a Barry County sheriff’s deputy. Clayton had appealed, claiming his trial attorney was ineffective for not more vigorously pursuing a defense that Clayton was mentally incompetent. The Supreme Court ruled the attorney was competent. Clayton was convicted of shooting Deputy Christopher Castetter, who was investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle at a home near Cassville.
