From the category archives:

Crime & Courts

Gruesome investigation moves along slowly

by Brent Martin on November 18, 2009

in Crime & Courts

A gruesome investigation moves slowly forward in Lafayette County as the search of a farm near Bates City has yet to uncover much evidence to back some serious allegations.

A search warrant authorized by the Lafayette County Circuit Court discloses just what investigators are searching for on the former farm of Burrell Mohler, Sr.; not just the glass jars with notes written by the alleged victims, but human remains. No murder charges have been filed against Mohler or his four middle-aged sons or the great-uncle from Florida accused of the sex crimes the men are alleged to have carried out between 1988 and 1995. But investigators are trying to determine whether a newborn was killed and buried on the farm and whether a 300 pound man was killed by Burrell Mohler, Jr. and his daughters.

The application for a search warrant filed in Lafayette County Circuit Court requested permission to search for “Human remains, including but not limited to bones, hair, teeth, fibers, blood or any other trace evidence” connected with the allegation of a homicide. Searchers are looking for the remains of a newborn.

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Judge enters not guilty plea for Bustamante

by Jessica Machetta 11/18/09 6:15 PM

A judge in Jefferson City has entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of a 15-year-old-girl charged as an adult in the death of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten because she did not have a lawyer present.
 
Alyssa Bustamante is accused of strangling and stabbing Olten to death before burying her in the woods of rural Cole County.
Earlier today, [...]

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Alyssa Bustamante, 15, to be tried as adult in Olten murder case in Cole County

by Jessica Machetta 11/18/09 1:01 PM

Alyssa Bustamante, 15, has been certified as an adult and will stand trial for the murder of Elizabeth Olten, 9, of rural Cole County.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled today the crime was vicious and the state’s juvenile facilities are inadequate to deal with someone who would commit such a crime.
Law enforcement testified that [...]

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Smith and Brown sentenced for campaign violations

by Steve Walsh 11/17/09 3:37 PM

Prison for one former state lawmaker, probation for another.
A federal judge in St. Louis has sentenced former State Senator Jeff Smith (D-St. Louis) to one year in federal prison on each of two counts of obstruction of justice, with the sentences to run concurrently. Smith had admitted that he lied to election officials and the [...]

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Koster might seek more warranty regulation

by Bob Priddy 11/16/09 8:29 AM

Missouri’s top prosecutor thinks Missouri has become the “silicon valley” for extended automobile warranty fraud. The next step might be tougher regulation.
Some of the half-dozen companies sued for fraudulent extended vehicle warranty operations are described by Attorney General Chris Koster as spinoffs of U.S. Fidelis, considered a giant in the vehicle warranty industry. U.S. Fidelis [...]

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