COUNCIL: STAY OFF STREETS IN AUTOPSY COLLECTION

The sister and niece of a woman who died in September won't be permitted to stand on Cape Girardeau streets and ask passers-by for money to exhume the body and perform an autopsy.

Cape Girardeau City Council denied the request of Sharon Simpkins and Charlotte Cannon at Monday's meeting, hoping to quell excessive future requests.

Councilmen voted 1-5 with Hugh White casting the only favorable vote. They asked staff members to develop criteria to help them weigh other solicitation requests.

Simpkins and Cannon had hoped to raise money to exhume the body of Brenda Joyce Fisher-Baker, 53, of Benton, Mo., believing foul play was involved in her death. Their suspicions were piqued in February when Fisher-Baker's widower, Larry Baker of rural Scott County, Mo., was arrested in connection with his girlfriend's stabbing death.

He is charged with first-degree murder and possibly faces the death penalty in that case, but Scott County Coroner Scott Amick said there was no reason to suspect foul play in Fisher-Baker's death.

Simpkins and Cannon don't agree. They compiled a 51-page, notarized document stating their suspicions, including how a they consulted a psychic in the case, and started trying to raise money for the exhumation.

"I'm really disappointed in their decision," said Simpkins, Fisher-Baker's sister, following the vote. "I just don't understand why."

They said the council showed a dual standard in solicitation.

"It's just funny that they did it for the police, but I guess a death isn't enough of a reason," Cannon said.

In February, after two Cape Girardeau police officers were wounded in a drug-related shootout, members of the Police Officers Association and KFVS television staff stood on Broadway and asked passing motorists for donations to pay the officers' expenses. The group did not get permission from the council, although it is city policy.

Undeterred, Simpkins and Cannon plan a similar drive in Scott City, Mo.

Mayor Al Spradling III said the women came to his law office to make their initial request, and he directed them to write a letter to the council.

He said he doesn't want to condone groups holding solicitations without approval or ignoring city ordinances. Anyone seeking to collect money through donations on city streets must have approval of the city council and a vendor's license.

The mayor said he had no problem approving the request if the solicitations were confined to specific streets and times of day.

Other council members didn't agree, citing concerns about getting more requests and problems solicitation in the streets can cause for traffic.

"This opens Pandora's box," said Councilman Jay Purcell. "I think we'll be inundated from groups requesting to solicit, and it could be a traffic safety hazard."

Councilman Richard "Butch" Eggimann said he opposed any solicitations that didn't help causes in the city or that would benefit a large group of people. "Every time a person goes into the hospital they'll be out on the street collecting money. It will go on and on."