Around Southeast Missouri 1/26/07

Stoddard Co. man gets two 30-year sentences

Just days before he was scheduled to appear in court for a jury trial, a Stoddard County man admitted his guilt in the rape and death of his 12-year-old cousin. Steve Chipman, 19, of Acorn Ridge pleaded guilty Monday to reduced charges of second-degree murder and forcible rape in the death of Miranda Dowdy of Poplar Bluff, Mo. She was Chipman's cousin. According to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Briney Welborn, Chipman received two 30-year sentences to run consecutively for murder and rape. The plea comes just seven days before Chipman was set to appear in court for a jury trial on the much harsher charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, forcible rape and first-degree statutory sodomy. He would have faced the death penalty had the issue gone to trial, Welborn said. It would have been the first time in more than 70 years that the death penalty had been sought in Stoddard County. Chipman also admitted to raping Dowdy and then stabbing her to death and burning the body in an effort to conceal the crime. Chipman has been incarcerated in the Stoddard County Justice Center since his arrest and will soon be transferred to the Missouri Department of Corrections.

-- Dexter Daily Statesman

Stolen tractors found in Dunklin County area

A ring of tractor thefts has had the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department quite busy over the past few weeks, according to Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder. Holder said his department, with help from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Holcomb Police Department, has recovered a number of stolen tractors, ranging from new line models to 1990s models. Although the tractors had been stolen from different areas throughout the Midwest, all have been recovered in or near the Dunklin County area. The investigation of the tractor thefts and altered identification numbers is ongoing, but the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department has arrested one man in connection with the thefts. Jack Burgess, of rural Holcomb, Mo., has been charged with the sale of a motor vehicle with altered identification numbers and receiving stolen property in relation to one of the tractors recovered from Holcomb. Anyone with information relating to the tractor thefts is encouraged to contact the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department at (573) 888-2424.

-- Daily Dunklin Democrat