Judge upholds assault charge against man accused of shooting ex-wife with arrow

A judge reduced the bond Wednesday of a man accused of shooting his ex-wife in the back using a bow and arrow.

Merriel E. Housman Jr.'s bond was reduced by Associate Circuit Judge Michael Bullerdieck. The judge also upheld assault charges against the Jackson man, who is accused of shooting his ex-wife, Betty Housman, in the back using a bow and arrow and choking her.

The charges were upgraded to include the first-degree assault because of the severity of Betty Housman's injuries, said Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecutor Jack Koester.

Bond was reduced from $10,000 cash only to the same amount cash or surety.

Housman Jr. was ordered to stay with a friend while on bond and refrain from any contact with his ex-wife.

The case was set for a felony arraignment Dec. 1.

Betty Housman testified she had been divorced from Housman Jr. for about eight years but that they were still living together Sept. 1.

They were returning from Alton, Ill., and on the drive home, Housman Jr. threatened his ex-wife after an argument, she testified.

She said he told her he was going to shoot her using a bow and arrow when they got home.

When they returned to the Jackson residence, she testified he struck her with the phone and tried to choke her in the kitchen, and she was scared.

She tried to leave and got her handgun from the safe, she testified. When her son tried to take it from her, it went off as they struggled, she said.

Then, her husband allegedly shot her using the bow, the arrow striking her in the left shoulder and causing serious injury.

Her son, Merriel Housman III, couldn't testify due to a work obligation, Koester said, but his sworn statement was entered into court record.

According to Housman III, the fight began when his mother asked him and his wife to leave the house. His father intervened and told Betty Housman to leave, Housman III wrote.

When a fight ensued, Housman III tried to break it up, and Betty Housman began hitting him, he said in his statement.

He stated that he was trying to get the gun away from his mother and his mother fired three shots before he could get it away from her.

When his father came up behind Betty Housman and shot her with the arrow, he couldn't see that Housman III had gained possession of the gun, the statement said.

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