DRUG HEARINGS RESET FOR MAN ALSO CHARGED WITH MURDER

BENTON, Mo. -- Hearings on drug and assault charges were put off until May 11 for a Benton man who also faces a first-degree murder charge.

A preliminary hearing had been scheduled for 40-year-old Larry F. Baker on Wednesday for third-degree assault and several drug charges.

But attorneys agreed to handle those charges during another hearing that was originally slated to see if enough evidence exists to bind Baker over for arraignment for first-degree murder and second-degree arson.

Baker is accused of killing his girlfriend and then trying to set a fire to cover up the crime on Feb. 9, an officer with the Scott County Sheriff's Department said.