Cape murderer still will serve 2 life sentences; appeals court forced reduced charge

Judge Benjamin Lewis on Wednesday sentenced Kenneth Dewayne Bell, 25, of Cape Girardeau to two consecutive life sentences for two counts of second-degree murder and 30 years for armed criminal action, also to be served consecutively.

Lewis gave Bell a nearly identical sentence March 9, 2015, but Bell was ineligible for parole on the life sentences when he was convicted of first-degree murder.

Bell pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in Butler County in 2008.

As a prior offender convicted of a dangerous felony, Bell will not be eligible for parole until he serves 85 percent of his sentence, or 76 years in prison. He is incarcerated at Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Missouri.

“I really worked hard to rehabilitate myself, and I made the best of my opportunities,” Bell said before he was sentenced Wednesday. “I just appreciate you giving me another chance, and I hope to get out one day.”

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, ruled May 3 that Bell’s rights were infringed when he confessed to the murders of Shannon Dwayne James and Misty Dawn Cole without a lawyer present Feb. 8, 2013, and the confession was inadmissible evidence.

In his opinion, Judge Kurt Odenwald wrote the confession was important to the jury’s decision to convict Bell of first-degree murder.

The detail of Bell shooting Cole and James after they already had been struck by bullets and fallen to the ground provided an example of deliberation by the offender, necessary in first-degree murder cases, according to the opinion.

Odenwald wrote, however, that admission of the confession could be ruled a “harmless error” for second-degree murder because of other evidence.

Police found a Luger handgun with Bell’s DNA on the weapon on a neighboring roof Feb. 8, 2013.

A criminalist testified during trial in January 2015 the shell casings around the victim were fired from that gun, and the bullets recovered were consistent with being fired from that gun.

Bell also was found to have gunshot residue on him when he was arrested.

The court of appeals gave the state the option to accept the lesser convictions of second-degree murder or retry the case.

The state, through Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecuting attorney Angel Woodruff, accepted the lesser convictions June 2.

Odenwald found Cape Girardeau detectives Don Perry and Darren Estes began a conversation with Bell that led to him waiving his Miranda rights to remain silent and confessing to the murders.

Bell originally talked to Perry and Estes at 3 a.m. Feb. 8, 2013, shortly after he had been apprehended by Cape Girardeau police officers running down Pacific Street, according to the opinion.

They read Bell his Miranda rights, and he asked for an attorney to be present before he talked to officers, Odenwald wrote.

Several hours later, station commander Barry Meadows approached Bell in his cell and told him his wife had tried to call, but Bell was not allowed to accept phone calls, according to the opinion.

That afternoon, Cape Girardeau Police Cpl. Jeff Bonham talked to Bell about how jurors would perceive his situation if Bell did not explain his side of the story as he escorted Bell to the restroom, Odenwald wrote.

Two hours later, Estes and Perry moved Bell from his cell to an interview room, according to the opinion.

Perry said he had talked to Bell’s girlfriend, and Bell responded with a quick question, Odenwald wrote.

Bell’s girlfriend was in his apartment at 401 Pacific St. when the shooting took place, according to the opinion.

Perry read aloud to Bell the full text of his arrest warrant and a probable-cause statement filed in the case, Odenwald wrote.

Bell asked for some water and asked whether Perry had talked to his girlfriend, according to the opinion.

After Perry said Bell’s girlfriend had just left the station, Bell asked whether she had said anything, Odenwald wrote.

Perry and Estes proceeded to talk for a long time in alternating monologues and back-and-forth conversations, according to the opinion.

Odenwald described the hour-long interaction between Bell and the two detectives as an interrogation.

Bell said he would talk, and the detectives read him his Miranda rights again before he confessed, according to the opinion.

Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Edwards v. Arizona, Odenwald wrote Perry and Estes instigated the conversation with Bell in an attempt to get him to waive his Miranda rights.

Bell’s defense attorneys, Cynthia Dryden and Beth Kerry, made a motion to suppress the confession in 2014, but Lewis denied it, determining Bell asking about his girlfriend was initiating a conversation with detectives.

Bell shot James and Cole as James entered their apartment in his same building. James was shot several times, and Cole was shot six or seven times.

James and Bell had run into each other on the sidewalk outside the apartment, and James had made a threat against Bell, according to testimony by James’ friend during trial.

Bell responded by going inside his apartment and grabbing a gun, according to Bell’s girlfriend, cited in Odenwald’s opinion.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 401 S. Pacific St., Cape Girardeau, MO