Attorney now representing Clay Waller in murder investigation

The attorney who is representing Clay Waller in his state theft and harassment case will also represent him in an investigation that may lead to a murder charge.

In a motion to quash Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle's application to preserve Waller's father's testimony, Scott Reynolds originally wrote that he technically does not represent Waller in the investigation. Reynolds confirmed Monday that he will represent Waller throughout the investigation.

Swingle submitted an application Sept. 22 to preserve testimony from James Clay Waller Sr. that alleges Clay Waller confessed to breaking Jacque Waller's neck during a fight and burying her body in an undisclosed location. In the application, Swingle wrote that the state anticipates filing a murder charge against Waller.

Jacque Waller has been missing since June 1, and Swingle called Clay Waller the primary suspect in her disappearance in the application.

"It does not appear that she disappeared voluntarily," Swingle said in the application.

In acting as Waller's attorney in the investigation, Reynolds filed a motion for a change of judge, according to Missouri Case.net. Cape Girardeau Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Lewis denied the motion, according to Missouri Case.net.

Reynolds declined to comment on the investigation.

Waller, who is in federal custody at the Pemiscot County Jail after pleading guilty to Internet threatening charges Oct. 3, received a summons Oct. 6 notifying him of the Nov. 18 hearing regarding the preservation of his father's testimony, according to Missouri Case.net.

Clay Waller faces state theft and harassment charges unrelated to Jacque Waller's disappearance. Probable-cause statements say he accepted a check for $55,000 from the Delta Cos. in April 2010 for construction work he never did. The harassment charge stems from a complaint made by a former friend, Gary Hill, the week before his Sept. 2 arrest. Hill told police that Waller threatened to kill him.

Waller's next court date for those charges is Nov. 22 but may be postponed because he is in federal custody.

Clay Waller pleaded guilty in federal court Oct. 3 to threatening Jacque Waller's sister on an online message board and faces up to five years in prison. He will be sentenced Dec. 19.

He has repeatedly denied any involvement in the June 1 disappearance of Jacque Waller, his wife and mother of his triplets. Police say Clay Waller was the last person to see her before her car was found abandoned on Interstate 55.

psullivan@semissourian.com

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