Marcus Bowers sentenced to four years in death of Kelso, Mo., man

On Tuesday, Marcus Bowers received a sentence of four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Stan Hagan.

On an unrelated child molestation conviction, Bowers was sentence of one year, to run concurrently with the other sentence, according to Butler County Circuit Court records.

Hagan, of Kelso, Mo., died in September 2007, five days after a Scott City altercation with Bowers, who was 18 at the time.

Bowers was originally charged with murder, but the charges were reduced after authorities learned more about the incident.

At first, investigators thought Hagan's head had been struck against a mobile home tie-down stake at a Scott City mobile home park.

Scott City police investigated the case for several months before a grand jury indicted Bowers on the murder charge. They had ruled it an accident but took up the murder investigation after talking to witnesses.

Then medical evidence showed his injuries were consistent with hitting his head against a cement slab near the stake.

The charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action were reduced to manslaughter, and a Butler County judge considered a sentencing assessment report before making his decision.

The molestation charges stemmed from Bowers having had intercourse with a 14-year-old girl.

On Aug. 11, Bowers pleaded guilty on both charges in Butler County, where the case had been transferred on a change of venue from Scott County.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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