BAKER-NEEL REQUESTS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County prosecuting attorney has requested the governor assign a special prosecutor to handle the case of two men accused of killing Scott City, Mo., resident Willie Mae Vasquez in July.

Cristy Baker-Neel said Friday she decided to ask for a special prosecutor because the victim's daughter, Susan Steel of Commerce, requested one. Steel has been critical of Baker-Neel's handling of the case, especially her decision to charge cousins Gary Wayne Biggs, 36, of Scott City and Charles Scott Biggs, 31, of Cape Girardeau with second-degree murder instead of first degree.

"I was having difficulty having conversations with her," Baker-Neel said of Steel. "I thought this was the best solution all way around."

Baker-Neel said a special prosecutor can only be assigned to cases that could end up as capital cases. The special prosecutor would make his or her own determination of the charges to try the men on.

Capital cases present special problems for small counties with limited resources, Baker-Neel said, because the Missouri Public defender brings in a team of attorneys to represent the defendants.

Scott County has brought in a special prosecutor two or three times in the past "when there was a possibility it could be a murder case and it could be a complicated case," she said.

"All the smaller counties do that," she said.

Baker-Neel, who has been the Scott County prosecuting attorney since 1993, said she has never prosecuted a capital case.

Baker-Neel said she couldn't recall when she sent the letter to the governor requesting the special prosecutor. John Steel, Susan Steel's husband, said he learned of the decision when he called Baker-Neel's office Thursday.

The amount of time it takes for a special prosecutor to be assigned varies from a week to a month, Baker-Neel said.

Susan Steel said she is "somewhat happy" that Baker-Neel has asked for the special prosecutor. "But she needs to be out of office," Steel said.

The Biggs are charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Vasquez, whose body was found in a shallow grave northwest of Scott City near the Mississippi River. She had been killed with a hatchet.

Baker-Neel has said investigators have not presented her with evidence of the premeditation necessary to charge the men with first-degree murder.