Crime News

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A former Dexter High School industrial arts teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with one of her students will not be prosecuted at this time after the state agreed to defer pursuing the charge against her. "Pursuant to the wishes of the victim ... we entered a deferred prosecution agreement" with Marti L. Pulliam, "and she has surrendered her teaching license" as part of that agreement, explained Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver...

Cape Girardeau County officials, together with city officials from Cape Girardeau and Jackson, take part in a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for the county's new justice center in Jackson.

Both Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd and Republican challenger Amanda Oesch have proposed changes to the county’s criminal-justice system. Oesch said she wants to provide “more effective and efficient prosecution.” Boyd wants the county to implement a “pre-trial diversion” program that would allow minor and non-violent offenders to remain at home under an ankle-monitoring system...

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that George R. Gunn, 44, of Cape Girardeau pleaded guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud. At his plea hearing Tuesday, Gunn admitted he had executed a scheme to defraud his employer, River City Mobile Home Sales, in Benton, Missouri, according to a news release...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A federal judge has ordered Missouri to develop a plan to provide inmates who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed as minors with "a meaningful and realistic opportunity" for release, finding the state's current system unfair...

Illinois State Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred early Sunday morning at the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, which connects Cape Girardeau to East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, but authorities have not named the victim or described the circumstances surrounding the shooting...

Stoddard and Butler county officials say the numbers of noncompliant sex offenders in their counties were skewed in a recently released state audit. The information released by state Auditor Nicole Galloway states 1,259 sex offenders are unaccounted for in Missouri. The audit ranked Stoddard County as having the highest rate, 25.2 percent, with Butler County as the third-worst at 20 percent...

Two Marble Hill, Missouri, residents were arrested Friday after a search by Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Drug Enforcement Administration agents found drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies and DEA conducted a joint narcotics investigation at the home of Eric and Crystal Tucker, 609 Broadway St. ...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Persistent detective work and breakthroughs in DNA technology led to the solving of a cold case in New Madrid County. Sheriff Terry Stevens announced Friday one of the “most heinous crimes ever in the history of New Madrid County” is now solved, and the perpetrator, called a serial rapist and killer, died in 1999 after a standoff with police...

O’Reilly Auto Parts in Cape Girardeau was robbed at gunpoint Thursday and an undisclosed amount of cash was taken, according to a release from the Cape Girardeau Police Department. The incident happened at 10 p.m. No one was injured. Shortly after the confrontation, the alleged suspect, Noah L.A. Rhodes, 18, of Cape Girardeau was formally charged with first-degree felony robbery and felony armed criminal action, according to police...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — A Benton man has been arrested in Mississippi County and faces numerous charges after allegedly setting fire to a truck he was test driving and trying to shoot a corrections officer. According to a news release from Mississippi County Sheriff Brandon Caid, Dustin Robinson 32, is charged with two counts of first-degree arson, second-degree burglary, two counts of tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree, two counts of knowing burning, two counts of first-degree property damage, second-degree assault, disarming a corrections officer, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary. ...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The theft of more than 20 firearms at a Fenton, Missouri, gun store recently was the latest in an increase in such robberies at gun stores in Missouri and Illinois, according to federal officials. Figures from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives show there were at least eight gun store burglaries last year in St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties, including an April 2017 heist at the Hazelwood Cabela's...

A man was injured in a shooting Monday afternoon in the 100 block of South Park Avenue in Cape Girardeau. ...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A Cape Girardeau man was arrested Thursday for the Aug. 23 shooting death of Marcus De’Andres Price. Shamar A. Lowe, 19, was arrested by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety and charged with first degree murder, armed criminal action and resisting/interfering with a felony arrest. Lowe’s bond is $200,000 cash only...

SIKESTON, Mo. — A Cape Girardeau man has been arrested for the Aug. 23 shooting death of Marcus De’Andres Price. Shamar A. Lowe, 19, was arrested by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety on Thursday and charged with first degree murder, armed criminal action and resisting/interfering with a felony arrest. Lowe’s bond is $200,000 cash only...

Cape Girardeau has seen a decline in serious crimes overall and is on the right track when it comes to combating crime, city officials said. According to police records, total serious crime in Cape Girardeau dropped nearly 11 percent for the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2017...

Cape Girardeau County Republican Party’s central committee has nominated interim Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson as its candidate for a November special election to fill out the unexpired term of sheriff. Dickerson took over as Cape Girardeau County sheriff Aug. 13, becoming the first woman to serve in that position in the 218-year history of the department...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri public safety director Drew Juden is stepping down at the end of the month, the first top holdover from former Gov. Eric Greitens’ staff to leave since Greitens resigned and Mike Parson took over as governor. Greitens picked Juden to lead the agency shortly before he took office in January 2017. It wasn’t immediately clear why Juden was leaving the position...