Confession allowed in Joseph murder case

Prosecutors will be able to use George Joseph's confession against him if his case goes to trial, a Cape Girardeau County circuit judge ruled.

Online court records show Judge Benjamin Lewis overruled a defense motion to suppress Joseph's confession, which was videotaped at a St. Louis hospital while he was undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound to the head.

Joseph, 48, faces charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the May 30 shooting deaths of his wife, Mary, and 18-year-old son, Matthew, at their home on West Cape Rock Drive.

George Joseph suffered a gunshot wound to the head that morning.

On June 4, Detective Sgt. Don Perry and Cpl. Jeff Bonham of the Cape Girardeau Police Department interviewed him in the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

According to a probable-cause statement filed in the case, during that interview, Joseph confessed to the shootings and admitted he killed his wife and son to spare them the pain of impending financial ruin.

At an Oct. 17 motion hearing, Perry acknowledged that during the conversation, Joseph asked for his attorney several times -- at least once by name.

During the hearing, Perry and Bonham both emphasized they were not asking "guilt-seeking questions" but had gone to the hospital to collect fingerprints and a DNA sample and to find out whether police needed to search for additional suspects.

Joseph was conscious, alert and "very coherent" during the interview and did not appear to be under the influence of medication, Perry said at the hearing.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

1220 W. Cape Rock Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.