Judge finds cause to continue case against suspect in Cape Girardeau murder

By Erin Hevern

Southeast Missourian

A forensic pathologist, members of the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger County Major Case Squad and a Missouri State Highway Patrol criminalist were among the seven witnesses who testified Wednesday at the preliminary hearing of Thomas D. Evans, the Bellwood, Ill., man charged in the June 26 shooting death of Matthew "Woody" Ervin.

Associate Circuit Court Judge Michael Bullerdieck presided over the hearing at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse and found probable cause to continue with Evans' case.

Bullerdieck set Evans' next appearance for Oct. 12.

Thomas D. Evans Jr.

Dr. Russell Deidiker, the Farmington, Mo., forensic pathologist who performed Ervin's autopsy, told the court Ervin died of a gunshot wound to the head, although he was shot a second time in the torso.

Ervin was found dead in the street at Fountain Street and Park Drive in Cape Girardeau.

Evans, 20, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. The charge of armed criminal action was filed Wednesday.

After describing the autopsy results, Deidiker went over the toxicology report, which indicated Ervin had alcohol and cocaine in his system when he died. Methamphetamine and marijuana were also found in Ervin's urine.

When questioned, Deidiker said he couldn't say with certainty that the drugs and alcohol could have killed Ervin.

"With cocaine, it's difficult to say, people react differently to it," Deidiker said. He repeating the determined cause of death was the gunshot wound to the head.

Cape Girardeau patrolman Cody Farrow, also an evidence technician with the police department, testified that he collected three gun shell casings at the scene of the shooting. One was near the body, he said, the second was between the body and a nearby Dumpster and the third was near the victim's car, which was parked by a sidewalk near the scene. The shell casings were from a .40-caliber pistol, Farrow told the court.

Major Case Squad members Keith Green, a Cape Girardeau detective, Scott Stoelting with the drug and crime control division of the highway patrol and Scott Eakers, a detective in Jackson, each testified about their role in the investigation.

Eakers said he helped search Ervin's car, where a set of keys was found in the rear passenger seat. The numbers "418-6" stamped on one key led them to 418 Themis St., Apt. 6 -- later determined to be Evans' residence.

Green told the court about collecting a pair of white tennis shoes Evans admitted belonged to him.

"I noticed what appeared to be blood on them," Green said.

According to Green's testimony, Evans told officers it was spilled Kool-Aid on his tennis shoes. A test later conducted by Stoelting revealed the small spots were human blood.

Shaminie Athinarayanan, a criminalist with the highway patrol, testified about working in the crime lab and testing the blood on the tennis shoes. The blood, she said, matched a DNA sample taken from Ervin during his autopsy.

Detective Sgt. Don Perry of the Cape Girardeau Police Department spoke of three interviews with the defendant, who waived his rights to an attorney on all three occasions.

The first interview, Perry said, took about an hour and officers questioned Evans about how his key ended up in the back seat of Ervin's vehicle. Perry said Evans claimed he and a Charleston, Mo., teen, Armster "Bud" Robinson III, were at B&H, 1021 Bloomfield St., when Ervin bought cocaine from Robinson. The two then asked Ervin for a ride to Fountain Street and Park Drive, the location of the shooting, Perry said.

In the first two interviews, Perry said Evans told him Robinson shot Ervin and he fled to the south side of Cape Girardeau. On the third and final interview, Evans revealed new details about the shooting, according to Perry.

Evans told police Ervin made threats and appeared to be retrieving a gun from his vehicle, so Evans fired two shots at the victim out of self-defense, according to Perry.

Perry said investigators still have not been able to find the murder weapon or Robinson, who they'd like to question.

Evans is still in custody at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $2 million bond.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent Address:

Fountain Street and Park Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO

418 Themis St., Cape Girardeau, MO