Judge rules mistrial in murder case; too few jurors neutral on death penalty

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- A judge declared a mistrial last week in a quadruple-murder case because not enough jurors could be found with neutral views of the death penalty.

The court was to hear the case of a Doniphan, Missouri, man charged in connection in the 2010 deaths of two elderly couples whose bodies were found in their burned homes.

Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett issued his ruling after it was determined not enough jurors remained after questioning by the state and defense attorneys to select a jury of 12 and alternates for the trial of Keith A. Boyles.

Boyles, 23, was to stand trial on four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of armed criminal action. The state was seeking the death penalty.

"We could not get enough jurors," said a court official. "We had to death qualify them, meaning a juror had to be able to consider each punishment -- death vs. life -- equally.

"Too many said they could only consider one punishment. ... We started with 140. We needed to have 38 say they could consider both punishments so that each side could then make their strikes."

Thursday was when "we couldn't get to 38," which led to the mistrial, the court official said.

That was the day the jury-selection process began in Ste. Genevieve County. If jurors had been chosen, they would have been brought to Butler County for Boyles' trial.

Because the state sought the death penalty, the jurors would have been sequestered for the duration of the trial.

Boyles now will appear Feb. 23 before Pritchett to have his case reset for trial.

Boyles is accused of killing Gladys Irene Piatt, 80, and Loyd Eugene Piatt, 77, as well as Edgar Atkinson, 81, and Bonnie Chase, 69.

The Piatts were found dead inside their burned rural Doniphan home June 23, 2010. Authorities initially thought the couple had died of smoke inhalation.

The bodies of Atkinson and Chase were found in their burning home in Current View, Missouri, on July 10, 2010. An autopsy determined Atkinson died of gunshot wounds to the head and upper torso. A cause of death for Chase was not known.

After the deaths of Atkinson and Chase, the investigation into the Piatts' deaths was reopened, and their bodies were exhumed for autopsies. Both reportedly had been shot in the chest.