GUNMAN PROMISED TO SHOOT POLICEMEN

A 20-year-old man who died in a shootout with Cape Girardeau police Saturday had been smoking and making methamphetamine in the days leading up to the gun battle, investigators said.

Matthew S. Marsh of Scott City, Mo., promised he would shoot police rather than go to jail on Friday at the mobile home he shared with 27-year-old Jenna M. McDaniel, said Krystal Miller, McDaniel's former stepdaughter.

In a statement Miller gave to investigators Sunday, she said she had been living with Marsh and McDaniel in the mobile home at 2806 Woodland Drive in Scott City for two months. During most of that time, Marsh has been "strung out on crank," Miller said.

"Crank" is one of several slang terms for methamphetamine.

On Friday, Marsh shot a hole in the floor of the mobile home and kicked holes in the wall. Before that, he held his .380-caliber handgun to McDaniel's head numerous times, Miller said.

Saturday morning, Marsh and McDaniel drove a car full of material for manufacturing meth to the Super 8 Motel in Cape Girardeau, attracting the attention of Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force officers and others.

A housekeeper at the motel told police she saw McDaniel carrying two tanks of butane under her coat and into her room at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

After surveillance of the couple by SEMO Drug Task Force officers failed to see any criminal activity, they asked for police assistance.

Officers May and Moore knocked on the door of room 120 about 8:30 p.m. When Marsh opened the door, the two identified themselves as police officers and asked if they could search the room. Marsh consented.

Gun under a pillow

Marsh and McDaniel stood and watched as the police looked around the room. Then Marsh reached underneath a pillow on the bed and pulled out a .380-caliber handgun. He fired, hitting May in the abdomen just beneath his bulletproof vest. Moore was struck in the left shoulder. The officers shot back, killing Marsh.

An autopsy Sunday showed that Marsh died from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, said Michael Hurst, Cape Girardeau County coroner.

After other officers responded, McDaniel allowed them to complete the search started by May and Moore. They found an M&M bag inside a night stand by the bed. The bag had a chemical odor. Inside the bag were four other bags with a white substance that smelled like ether.

Several other materials for meth making, including cold tablets with ephedrine and a cooking pan that could be plugged into a car's cigarette lighter were also found.

A search of McDaniel's gray Honda Accord turned up a metal box full of Mason jars with a white residue, several pieces of new glassware, coffee filters with residue and other chemicals.

All the items found together are common elements of a meth lab, said undercover narcotics investigator Don Perry in a court document.

In a recorded statement given to police, McDaniel said she had not used any of the meth, but that approximately $1,000 in cash found in Marsh's pockets belonged to her.

Extra bullets were also found in Marsh's pockets.

Has to give samples

On Sunday, police obtained a warrant forcing McDaniel to provide blood and urine samples. She had rejected requests to give samples, Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle said.

It is possible for traces of methamphetamine to linger in urine and blood for three days after use, officer Perry said.

McDaniel is charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of materials to manufacture meth. Together the two felonies are punishable by a maximum of 12 years in prison.

She is being held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $25,000 cash only bond.