Cape Girardeau man to stand trial for arson on Big Bend Road

A Cape Girardeau man charged with arson in a Sept. 11 house fire at 1863 Big Bend Road was ordered to stand trial in a Cape Girardeau County court today.

Demarquis M. Gill, 25, was in court for a preliminary hearing this morning.

At the hearing Chelsea Elkins, who lived at the Big Bend Road home, testified that she had suspected Gill of vandalizing her car weeks before. Elkins said Gill had been banned from The Pony strip club, where she works as a dancer, about two months before the fire because of problems she had with him.

The Sept. 11 fire was believed to have started in a car parked at the house on Big Bend Road.

Cape Girardeau Police Department Det. Don Perry testified that Gill became a suspect early on because of Elkins' suspicions that he had vandalized her car weeks before. When Perry located Gill at his mother's home in New Madrid, Mo., the afternoon of Sept. 11, Perry said Gill had fresh burns on his hands and face. Perry also testified that Gill had admitted to starting the fire in a police interview later that day.

Pertinent address:

1863 Big Bend Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.