MAN BOUND OVER IN FATAL CRASH

JACKSON -- Two men who appeared to be drag racing on Highway 177 before a fatal accident in February had blood-alcohol levels about twice the legal limit, a state Highway Patrol trooper testified Tuesday.

The testimony came in a preliminary hearing for John A. Long, 41, who is charged with second-degree murder for his part in the wreck.

Trooper Doug McDaniels told the court that Long had a blood-alcohol content of .231, as measured through urinalysis and blood tests by the Southeast Missouri Crime Lab.

A blood-alcohol level of .10 or higher constitutes drunken driving in Missouri.

John M. Endrizzi, 44, had a level of .186. Endrizzi died at the scene of the accident on Feb. 9 after his car rolled several times, tossing him out.

Lou Hobbs had driven his car to the end of his driveway and was about to pull onto the highway when he saw Long and Endrizzi, he told the court. Although he couldn't give an exact guess at the cars' speeds, he said it was above the 55 mph limit.

As the cars passed in front of Hobbs and his wife, Nancy, he said he heard a "click" as if the cars had struck each other.

In the split seconds that followed, Hobbs described seeing the red car driven by Endrizzi drift off the road about 40 feet away from him. Almost all four wheels had left the asphalt at one point, Hobbs said.

Then the driver pulled the car back onto the road, and the car went tumbling, he said.

Long, who was driving a blue car, slowed to pull into a driveway before going back to Endrizzi's car, Hobbs said. It had landed about 20 feet from the road with Endrizzi pinned underneath, McDaniels said.

Evidence of red paint transferred to the rear corner of Long's car is indicative that they bumped each other, McDaniels said.

Hobbs already had walked down to Endrizzi by the time Long stopped, parked and went to the red car.

"Long was screaming, cursing and wanted my husband to pull the man out," Nancy Hobbs said.

Within a few minutes, Roger Rice drove past on his way to a convince store and saw Nancy Hobbs waving. He stopped to help.

While Rice and Long attempted to lift the red car, Lou Hobbs tried to pull Endrizzi out, Rice testified. Although it was obvious that Long was concerned about helping Endrizzi, he cursed at Lou Hobbs, Rice said.

Hobbs hands shook as he testified Tuesday. He explained that he has Parkinson's disease.

Soon after Nancy Hobbs had called 911, a volunteer firefighter pulled up, Rice said. With the firefighter's assistance they were able to pull Endrizzi out from under his car.

When McDaniels arrived, a large amount of blood was around Endrizzi's face and neck, he said. McDaniels took the man's pulse from his ankle and decided he was dead.

"In layman's terms, his head was crushed," testified John Clifton, deputy coroner for Cape Girardeau County.

Albert Lowes, Long's attorney, said that Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle had not given sufficient evidence to make a charge of second-degree murder. Nevertheless, Judge Gary Kamp bound Long over for trial on a felony charge.

An alteration in Missouri law last year allows second-degree murder to be brought against a person with two or more previous driving-while-intoxicated convictions involved in a fatal accident. Long has three prior DWI convictions in Illinois.