Investigators: Drug debt may have played role in Butler County killing

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) -- Investigators in southeast Missouri now believe a drug debt -- and not just a quarrel over fishing poles -- played a role in the death of a 23-year-old man.

Tommy Haugen of Butler County died early Monday after being struck once in the head with an iron pipe by a 17-year-old Sunday night. Initially, police said the two were fighing over stolen fishing poles.

But Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs said Thursday authorities now believe the primary issue was that the teen wouldn't sell Haugen methamphetamine because Haugen owed the teenager's cousin $70 from a previous drug purchase.

The fight "started and finished in seconds," Dobbs said.

The teen was charged earlier this week with second-degree murder, but prosecutors later dropped the charge as the investigation continues.

An autopy performed Monday showed Haugen died of blunt trauma to the head, with a secondary cause of a torn artery at the base of the brain.

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Information from: Daily American Republic, http://info.darnews.com/