ADDICTIONS PLAGUED MAN'S LIFE

After a robbery that never could have succeeded -- in daylight, during the beginning of rush hour, with a bicycle for a getaway vehicle -- Steven Marberry sentenced himself to capital punishment. It was the final act in a life of failed second chances.

Marberry, 44, of Cape Girardeau had been out of prison for barely more than two months Monday when, facing imminent arrest, he raised his revolver to his temple in Arena Park and committed suicide. He had burst into the Medicine Shoppe on Kingshighway, pointed the weapon at a clerk, and demanded only the prescription anti-anxiety medication Xanax.

There were no customers in the pharmacy at the time of the robbery.

His father, Alvin Marberry of Cape Girardeau, said Steven went from job to job, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Bob's Fish House, Thorngate clothing manufacturers, the Holiday Inn, and never remained employed at one place for long.

"He never held a steady job. He was always off and on in trouble," said the retired Southeast Missouri State University maintenance man. "He didn't get good grades. In fact, he didn't even finish high school.

"I tried."

Repeated arrests

Time and again, when presented with chances to clean up, Marberry could not keep to the straight and narrow. Following several misdemeanor traffic violations, he began to rack up felony arrests.

In January 1997, he was arrested for felony driving under the influence in Cape Girardeau. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison -- a sentence that was suspended and changed to five years of probation.

Marberry was arrested again a year later on three charges -- felony possession of Xanax, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and the misdemeanor theft of a porterhouse steak from a grocery. He pleaded guilty to the charges, and his probation was revoked.

He was sentenced to seven years in state prison for the Xanax and one year in the Cape Girardeau County jail for the misdemeanors. But again, his sentence was suspended and changed to seven years of probation.

And then Marberry caught another break. Following a 120-day stint in the addiction treatment program at the state Western Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in St. Joseph, Mo., he was released on probation.

In March 2000, Marberry was arrested for a second felony DUI in Cape Girardeau County. He pleaded guilty and his probation was again revoked.

He was sentenced last summer to five years in prison. But following another 120-day stint in an addiction treatment program, this time at the Farmington Correctional Center in Farmington, Mo., he was yet again released on probation on Nov. 3, 2000.

Marberry still couldn't shake his demons.

Marberry leaves behind a wife, a son, a daughter and his father, who said it had been six months since the two last spoke.

Steven Marberry's wife of over 20 years, Roslyn, declined to comment.

'None of it worked'

Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle said Marberry had plenty of chances.

"The criminal system tried giving him counseling for his addictions," he said. "And even as recently as this summer, the judge sentenced him to an addiction treatment program. And apparently, none of it worked."

Swingle said it is unusual for a defendant to be ordered into a state substance abuse treatment program more than once.

"Normally, after one time, the judges lose patience," he said.

Had Marberry been apprehended for the Medicine Shoppe robbery, he would have faced the reopening of his suspended sentences, and likely a lengthy prison sentence.