Barlow ordered to stand trial for murder

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- After a day-long preliminary hearing, Associate Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen on Friday ordered Lisa Barlow to stand trial for the July 27 slaying of Michael Strong.

Prosecutor Stephen Gray presented 15 witnesses as he built his case to prove probable cause that Barlow had committed the crime. Barlow is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action.

Strong was killed by a single gunshot to his head at his Scopus, Mo., home. Barlow lived with Strong at the time.

Thomsen ordered Barlow to appear for arraignment Oct. 4 before Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis. Barlow is being held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol crime lab analyst, Jason Crafton, testified that the bullet removed from Strong's body during could have been fired from the same gun missing from Strong's gun cabinet.

Barlow's defense attorney, Amy Metzinger of the public defender's office, intently questioned several of the witnesses presented by Gray but offered no witnesses or evidence on Barlow's behalf during the hearing.

"It is just another step toward closure," said Laura Roark, daughter of Michael Strong.

Members of Barlow's family present at the hearing declined to comment.

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