Autopsies in Cape shooting could take several weeks

Police on Friday continued to investigate the scene of a Thursday morning shooting in Cape Girardeau that left two people dead and a third in a hospital.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton said the bodies of 18-year-old Matthew Joseph and his mother, Mary Joseph, 57, were taken to Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington, Mo., where they were autopsied Friday afternoon.

Clifton said it could take several weeks to get results back from the autopsies.

Clifton said on Saturday the Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor's office has the preliminary results and information would have to be obtained from it.

Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, confirmed the investigation was ongoing but would not release details, referring questions to Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh's office.

Limbaugh did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday morning.

A woman answering the phone at his office Friday afternoon said Angel Woodruff, assistant prosecuting attorney, was handling questions about the case but had left for the day.

Matthew and Mary Joseph were found dead of gunshot wounds about 8 a.m. Thursday in their home at 1220 W. Cape Rock Drive.

George Joseph, 48, identified by a neighbor as Mary's husband and Matthew's father, was taken to a hospital Thursday to be treated for a gunshot wound. His condition Friday was unknown.

Hickey said investigators are trying to "eliminate things" in the case.

"Once you eliminate everything else, it leads you to things," he said. "Eliminate questions. Eliminate answers. That's all part of the investigation. ... Investigations incorporate so many things, from physical to verbal to ideas and thoughts and questions -- that's all part of it."

The Rev. Patrick Nwokoye of Catholic Campus Ministries at Southeast Missouri State University, where the Josephs attended church, said a memorial Mass was planned for Friday evening.

Nwokoye said funeral arrangements were pending.

"It's been a very difficult time for everybody," he said. "We're just trying to understand. It's a very tough time."

A family member discovered one of the shooting victims and called police, who then found the remaining victims, Hickey said Thursday.

Hickey told reporters everyone involved in the shooting was accounted for, so there was no danger to the public.

"There is no threat at this point," he said Thursday afternoon. "All parties that were involved -- we believe we know where everybody is. There is not anybody out running around or anything like that. We have control of the scene."

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1220 W. Cape Rock Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.