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Barbara Watters
The attorney for a woman from Joplin charged with keeping her husband inside a freezer for more than a year wants a judge to drop the abandonment charge against her.
Barbara Watters, 67, is charged with abandoning a corpse.
Her attorney says she never broke the law because she never abandoned her husband when he died.
But the prosecutor says Watters should have reported the death in case it needed to be investigated.
By Jason Rima of Missourinet affiliate KSGF in Springfield
Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green has ordered the Missouri Highway Patrol to cross-check an unidentified fingerprint potentially linked to a violent eastern Missouri burglary in 1997. During the break-in at a home in O’Fallon, the burglar fired several gun shots, seriously injuring the homeowner in the head. Johnathan Irons is serving a 50-year prison sentence for the crime he says he did not commit.
Jonathan Irons (2019 photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Corrections)
Two months ago, several witnesses were called to the stand on behalf of Irons to testify about their knowledge of any potential police bias in the case. Reginald Williams, a friend of Irons, testified that he obtained from the O’Fallon Police Department’s evidence files a document detailing a second fingerprint pulled from the only door to the burglarized home. He said the paperwork was not included in files for Irons’ court trial. Irons’ attorneys think the print could have cleared their client.
Irons, who took the stand in October, said after he was arrested for the crime, he was questioned without a lawyer or guardian. He was 16 years old at the time. None of his conversations with police were recorded. His case revolved around the claims made by the lead detective, who was ill during the trial and has since died.
The prosecution argued during the trial that Irons was seen the day of the burglary with a gun in the neighborhood where the crime happened. Irons said he had several friends he often visited in the area.
In 1998, the African-American man from eastern Missouri’s Wentzville was convicted by an all-white jury of first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
Maya Moore (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Lynx Twitter page)
During last week’s court hearing about Irons’ request to get the mystery fingerprint reviewed, WNBA star Maya Moore was able to be there. For more than a decade, Irons and Moore have been friends. Moore, who spent her childhood in Jefferson City, has played eight seasons for the Minnesota Lynx. She has taken a break, in part to try and help Irons walk away from prison as a free man soon.
“He is so close to getting his freedom,” says Moore. “We were able to present an overwhelming amount of facts about his case two months ago. He’s just somebody that should be so bitter and angry and just hopeless. He is a light – and just very inspiring to me, my family and just his perseverance and not giving up the hope of the truth coming out around his case.”
The judge’s order says the Missouri State Highway Patrol should complete the fingerprint work as soon as possible and the results should be given to the St. Charles Police Department.
Irons, 39, is incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
An investigation by the State Auditor’s Office has found that Lafayette County’s Children’s Services Fund could have been the target of Medicaid fraud. The fund is fully paid for by county taxpayers and helps local agencies providing social services to qualifying kids there.
State Auditor Nicole Galloway
In August and October, the office received complaints through the Whistleblower Hotline detailing concerns about the fund. State Auditor Nicole Galloway says a complaint requiring immediate attention involves Theresa Dotson Alexander and her company, The Center for Counseling and Training, for allegedly getting paid twice by billing the county fund and Missouri’s Medicaid program for the same services. Galloway says a review of hundreds of pages of documents have found the allegations against Dotson and her business to be credible.
Galloway’s office has forwarded the information Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt for further review and possible criminal charges. Information has also been given to the Missouri Medicaid Audit and Compliance Unit of the Department of Social Services.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
A southeast Missouri lawmaker is optimistic her prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) legislation will finally pass in 2020. State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, traveled to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on Wednesday to file House bill 1693.
State Reps. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, (left) and Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, brief Capitol reporters on December 11, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)
During a Statehouse press conference about opioid issues and HIV legislation, Rehder told Missourinet there’s a renewed interest from Senate leadership in getting it off the table early in the 2020 session. She references Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia.
“They really want to get it through the Senate early,” Rehder says. “And so, however that process is, I fully trust them that that’s going to be on the (Senate) floor early this year.”
Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP, which is an electronic database that collects data on controlled substance prescriptions within a state.
The Missouri House approved Rehder’s bill this year by a 103-53 vote, but the bill died in the Senate. It died primarily because of opposition from the Senate Conservative Caucus, which has six GOP members. State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, and others in the caucus have privacy concerns with PDMP.
During an interview with Missourinet after Wednesday’s press conference, Rehder dismissed the privacy issues. She also cites the toll the opioid epidemic is taking on Missouri families.
“It just gives our physicians and medical professionals easier access,” says Rehder. “And so I think some of the fear has gone away that it’s some big brother looking at your medications. It’s not, it’s covered by HIPAA.”
HIPAA stands for the federal Health Portability and Accountability Act.
The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse says nearly three people a day died of opioid overdoses in St. Louis in 2018. Rehder says the opioid epidemic is impacting the entire state.
Meantime, firefighters in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights have told U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) that they are ten times as likely to respond to a drug overdose as a fire. State Rep. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, tells Missourinet it’s critical for state lawmakers to approve the bipartisan PDMP bill.
“I think we need to do everything we can to make sure there are tool box in the tool chests for first responders. And this PDMP, I consider medical professionals first responders as well, and we need to get PDMP across the finish line,” McCreery says.
Rehder’s PDMP bill has had strong support from Democrats in both the Missouri House and Senate. It’s also supported by Senator Blunt and by U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Springfield.
Congressman Long visited Springfield’s Cox Medical Center South in June, describing the opioid epidemic as a “scourge.” He also noted that the opioid crisis is killing about 130 people a day nationwide.
Rehder will be serving her eighth and final year in the Missouri House in 2020, due to term limits.
Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Reps. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, and Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, which was recorded at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on December 11, 2019:
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
State Auditor Nicole Galloway says a felony stealing charge has been filed against Kevin Atwood, the former city administrator and police chief of Glasgow in central Missouri. An audit of Glasgow – released in 2018 – found about $3,200 disappeared while Atwood was managing the accounting functions.
Former Missouri city official accused of stealing city money
“There must be zero tolerance for corruption and fraud by those who are in positions of public trust,” says Galloway in a press release. “My audit of Glasgow helped uncover a serious violation of public trust, and we will continue to partner with law enforcement to pursue justice for taxpayers.”
A special prosecutor was brought in from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to investigate and handle the case.
Troopers arrested Atwood, 47, and he has posted a $3,000 bond. He will be in court next Thursday.
Click here to view the state audit.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
The state Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the murder conviction and death sentence in a high-profile 2009 mid-Missouri case.
Convicted killer David Hosier is incarcerated at the Potosi Correctional Center in southeast Missouri’s Mineral Point (January 2018 file photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)
64-year-old David Hosier was convicted of first degree murder and armed criminal action for the 2009 killing of Angela Gilpin of Jefferson City.
Court documents say Hosier had been having an affair with Gilpin, who was a married woman. The court filings say the affair ended, and that Angela reconciled with her husband Rodney in August 2009.
Prosecutors say Hosier broke into Angela Gilpin’s apartment in September 2009, shooting and killing both Angela and her husband.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in April, and Hosier’s public defender, Amy Bartholow, argued that his trial counsel was ineffective. She also said that Hosier’s trial counsel should have called a psychiatrist at trial to testify about a stroke and brain damage that Hosier had suffered.
Bartholow told the court during April’s oral arguments that Hosier’s “brain is dead in places.”
Hosier’s public defender, Bartholow, said Hosier suffered a transient ischemic attack in 2007. Her court filings say 2007 medical records from Audrain Medical Center indicate that.
Missouri Assistant Attorney General Greg Barnes argued the case before the Supreme Court in April, saying Hosier was represented by highly-experienced legal counsel.
“Trial counsel, guilt phase trial counsel had over 150 trials worth of experience over many years in both Texas and Missouri,” Barnes told the Supreme Court in April.
Barnes also questioned whether Hosier had a stroke, telling the court in April that the stroke “didn’t explain the 1986 assault on his wife or his threat to kill multiple law enforcement officers or to kidnap his kids and take them to Mexico during that time.”
In a unanimous 7-0 decision written by Judge Paul Wilson, the Missouri Supreme Court today unanimously affirmed Hosier’s convictions, which means he remains under a death sentence.
Click here to read the Missouri Supreme Court’s 31-page opinion.
Hosier remains incarcerated at the maximum-security Potosi Correctional Center in southeast Missouri’s Mineral Point.
While Hosier is suspected of killing Rodney Gilpin, he was never charged for the second murder.
Court documents say Hosier was captured in Oklahoma after the 2009 Jefferson City murders, after urging Oklahoma police officers to shoot him “and get it over with.” The court filings say a STEN submachine gun was used to kill Angela and Rodney Gilpin, and that Oklahoma authorities found it in Hosier’s vehicle. They also found 15 firearms, ammunition, a bulletproof vest, crowbar, latex gloves and a knife.
The court documents also say that Jefferson City Police found an application for a protective order against Hosier, in Angela Gilpin’s purse, after the murders. The court filings also say there was a document in her purse, stating that she was afraid Hosier might shoot her and her husband.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
Kansas City Public Schools owes $192k for fake attendance records
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has figured out that Kansas City Public Schools owes $192,000 for lying about student attendance from 2013 to 2016. The department is working with the district to create a timeline to repay the funds.
According to DESE spokesperson Mallory McGowin, about $81,000 will go to Kansas City area charter schools and roughly $111,000 will go back to the state general revenue fund.
The Kansas City Star first reported last month that seven KCPS workers allegedly made up student attendance numbers to help the district gain accreditation. The district says prosecution could be involved against the workers suspected in the scheme. According to the Star, school officials plan to repay the money in another week or so.
The records were altered under former Superintendent Steve Green’s leadership, who has denied any knowledge of the actions.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
A state audit alleges three former board members of a southeast Missouri special sales tax district illegally used nearly $100,000 in public funding on their business – the Black Mountain Convenience Store. State Auditor Nicole Galloway says Donald, Curtis and Jacob Black, who once served on the Mountain Community Improvement District in Van Buren, used the money on operations costs, to buy equipment and inventory for resale and to install new fuel pumps and a walk-in beer cave. The report says the funding was also used to remodel restrooms, for painting, new wallpaper and electrical work.
Missouri audit: Former sales tax district board members used $100k to upgrade their gas station
Six months after the work was completed, Galloway says the store was sold to new owners and the public was not reimbursed for the funds used to make the improvements.
The audit – which started after two current board members contacted Galloway’s office – also found the board could not hand over acceptable records to support more than $77,000 of expenses. In addition, the board approved – without a written agreement – reimbursement of $135,000 in private business construction costs to a local developer who had past business dealings with the board chairman. The report says payments of $28,000 were made without an agreement.
“We discovered several members of the initial Black Mountain CID board used taxpayer money for their own benefit,” Galloway says in a press release. “CIDs are meant to fund projects that benefit the community. They aren’t supposed to be illegal personal piggy banks for board members or anyone else, especially for spectacularly improper projects like a $10,000 walk-in beer cave.”
Black Mountain CID was organized and approved by the city of Van Buren in 2010 to create a sales tax for the purpose of making public infrastructure improvements inside the district’s 17 acres.
Galloway says her office has sent the audit findings to state and federal law enforcement.
To view the full audit, click here.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday morning in Jefferson City in a key case involving the state’s legal dispute with Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region.
The complicated legal case began when the Legislature appropriated money for fiscal year 2019, which prohibited expenditure of funds to any abortion facility. The sentence specifically reads “no funds shall be expended to any abortion facility as defined in Section 188.015, or any affiliate or associate thereof.”
The Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS), through its Missouri Medicaid Audit and Compliance Unit, denied funding requests from Planned Parenthood, which appealed to the administrative hearing commission (AHC). The AHC ruled in the state’s favor.
However, St. Louis Circuit Judge David Dowd ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, saying portions of the appropriations bill violated the state Constitution.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) and Solicitor General D. John Sauer have submitted a 32-page brief to the Missouri Supreme Court, outlining their case. Schmitt and Counselor Sauer say the trial court erred, and that the bill does not violate the single subject provision. They also say the trial court erred in taxing costs against the state of Missouri.
Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region is being represented by Jefferson City attorney Chuck Hatfield, who’s submitted a 42-page brief to the Supreme Court.
Counselor Hatfield writes that Judge Dowd’s ruling should be affirmed. He says the appropriations bill violates the state Constitution, and says the Attorney General’s office is quoting opinions that “are neither binding nor persuasive.” Hatfield also says existing state law required the state to pay Planned Parenthood for physician and family planning services it provides to Missouri Medicaid beneficiaries.
The Supreme Court will hear the arguments Tuesday morning at 9:30 in Jefferson City. Missourinet managing editor Alisa Nelson will be covering the case.
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
In a challenge to whistleblower protection in Missouri, a Cole County circuit judge ruled against the Greene County Sheriffs office, in favor of State Auditor Nicole Galloway.
This comes from a 2017 case of whistleblower complaints about the use of public resources in Greene County in connection with a tax ballot issue.
In answer to a records request, the auditor did not share documents that would reveal whistleblower identities. Sheriff James Arnott sued.
The brief decision upholds the state whistleblower law that says, “Individuals who make a report under this section may choose to remain anonymous until the individual affirmatively consents to having the individual’s identity disclosed.”
In her response to the court’s ruling, Galloway stated, “Without the information provided by whistleblowers and the legal safeguards that shield those individuals, the audit of Greene County may not have happened.”
