3 appear in court on alleged arson-murder plot

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- After three hours of testimony in a Stoddard County courtroom Thursday afternoon, Judge Joe Z. Satterfield ordered Donald Lafferty, 69, and Christopher Hicks, 34, to be bound over to Division I Circuit Court, where they are scheduled to appear at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 6.

Lafferty, Christopher Hicks and his wife, Brandi Hicks, 34, each were charged in May with arson, attempted murder, first-degree arson and armed criminal action after a January 2013 fire at the rural Bloomfield home of Lafferty and his former wife, Mildred (Lafferty) Sandage.

Donald Lafferty also faces a charge of financial exploitation of the elderly.

The charges allege the three agreed to carry out a plan to set fire to the Lafferty home while Mildred Lafferty slept, with the Hicks couple being paid $15,000 -- to be stepped up another $5,000 if Mildred Lafferty died in the fire.

A full courtroom sat at attention Thursday as testimony was presented by a host of witnesses to help determine whether Lafferty and Chris Hicks should proceed to Division 1.

Testimony about the fire and subsequent investigations, coupled with details surrounding the alleged financial exploitation of Lafferty's mother by her son, were presented, along with 18 exhibits posted by Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russell Oliver.

Before witnesses came forward during the preliminary hearing for Lafferty and Chris Hicks, Brandi Hicks made a brief appearance, waiving her preliminary hearing before Satterfield. After doing so, she was escorted out of the courtroom as the preliminary hearings for her husband and Lafferty began.