Man ordered tried on charges he killed wife, staged fatal accid

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- A man who said he bailed out of his pickup truck before a crash took his wife's life has been ordered tried on charges that he killed her and staged the accident.

A Ste. Genevieve County judge ordered Jeffry Kimmel, 44, to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and tampering with evidence.

Kimmel was charged Nov. 2, nearly three months after the Aug. 7 accident that was thought to have killed Mary Kimmel, 31.

He told police his wife fell asleep at the wheel, lost control of the pickup and crashed into the guard rail as he bailed out.

But authorities later accused Kimmel of poisoning his wife, propping her up behind the steering wheel and releasing the parking brake, jumping out before the truck hit the guardrail and rolled down a hill.

A coroner's report later determined that the victim's injuries suffered in the crash came after the woman already had died of poisoning. Authorities claim Kimmel walked home to call 911, passing several houses along the way.

Kimmel left his 2-year-old son at home while he committed the crime, investigators said.

Kimmel remains jailed on $500,000 bond.