Cape Girardeau man charged with making knife from toothbrush while in jail

A Cape Girardeau man was to be transferred from the Cape Girardeau city jail to the Cape Girardeau County Jail after he was allegedly caught with a homemade knife fashioned from a toothbrush handle while in the city jail.

Leon Cortez Wilder Jr., 26, is charged with felony possession of a weapon in jail and misdemeanor property damage.

In a probable-cause statement, Cape Girardeau Police Department Cpl. Joyce Statler wrote that Wilder was transferred to a padded cell at the jail Dec. 26 after he made suicidal statements to the jailer. Wilder was in jail on charges of failure to appear.

When Wilder was transferred to the padded cell, his cell mate told a jailer that Wilder had been filing down a toothbrush handle to make a sharp point, the statement said. A jailer found the toothbrush, which was placed into evidence, the statement said.

Wilder defecated in the padded cell and threw feces throughout the room, according to the probable-cause statement, and also tore padding from the cell door and placed it in feces.

Wilder's bond has been set at $20,000.