I-44 suspect loses bid for lower bond

STEELVILLE, Mo. -- A judge has refused to reduce bond for one of two suspects in a freeway shooting that wounded an Indiana truck driver.

Paul Murta, 18, of Leasburg, and Jeffrey Hubbard, 19, of Sullivan, were arrested Monday and jailed on $100,000 bond each.

Hubbard is charged with second-degree felony assault in the Oct. 21 shooting of truck driver Amy Holder, 34, of Indiana. Both are charged with a misdemeanor count of shooting across a highway.

Holder was driving a semi on Interstate 44 near Bourbon when she was struck in the head by one shot. She was treated at hospital and released the following day.

During a video conference Friday from the Crawford County Jail, Murta told Circuit Judge J. Kent Howald he did not think he could raise enough money for bail. The judge rejected Murta's request to be freed on $5,000.

According to court records, Murta told investigators that he and Hubbard had been taking turns firing a .22-caliber rifle at a stop sign across the interstate and that Hubbard fired the shot that struck Holder.

"Murta stated he fired one round from the rifle and handed it to ... Hubbard," investigators wrote in court documents. "Hubbard then fired one round across the roadway when they noticed a driver's window of a red in color, westbound truck-tractor, break."

Local authorities thought the case might be tied to other reports since February of shattered windows on motor vehicles along the same stretch of I-44.

Highway patrol Sgt. Dan Crain has said the investigation did not link Hubbard and Murta to each of those cases but that authorities believe the arrests will put an end to the incidents. He said one of the teens -- whom he did not identify -- said he had fired at the sign on multiple occasions.

Murta's next court appearance is Nov. 18, a day before Hubbard is to appear.