A three-judge panel of the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and death sentence given to methamphetamine dealer John Middleton, who murdered a fellow meth dealer in Harrison County in 1995.  Middleton is also under two additional death sentences for killing two people in Mercer County whom he believed to be informants.

In June of 1995, Middleton shot and killed Alfred Pinegar with a shotgun. Earlier in the month, Middleton had murdered Randy Hamilton and Stacey Hodge in Mercer County. He received death sentences for all three murders.