Man pleads guilty to two murders

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- A Carthage man was sentenced to two life sentences without parole after pleading guilty to killing a couple who had once let the man and his mother live in their home.

Micah J. Holman avoided a possible death sentence Friday by pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the June 4, 2005, stabbing deaths of Peggy and Marvin Steverson, also of Carthage.

The couple, who were in their 50s, were killed in their home, which was set on fire in an apparent attempt to cover up the crime, police said.

Holman was arrested on drug charges the day after the Steversons were murdered. He had coins from a collection taken from the Steversons' home in his possession and was eventually charged with their murders. Investigators said the coins were not particularly valuable.

The Jasper County prosecutor's office had filed to seek the death penalty in the case. Prosecutor Dean Dankelson said the Steversons' family members approved of the plea deal.

Holman was familiar with the home because his mother and Holman had stayed with the Steversons in the past, police said.

Dankelson said it still is not clear if the Steversons were killed because they discovered Holman inside their house, noting that their bodies were found in their bedroom in their nightclothes.

"I'm not sure we're any more clear today what the motive was than we were two years ago," Dankelson said.