Mo. man receives July 30 execution date

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The state Supreme Court has set a July 30 execution date for a man convicted of killing people to hide his northern Missouri methamphetamine operation.

Forty-eight-year-old John Middleton was convicted of killing Randy Hamilton and Stacey Hodge in 1995 in rural Mercer County. Middleton was also given the death penalty for the 1995 killing of Iowa resident Alfred Pinegar.

His July 30 execution date is set for the Hamilton and Hodge killings.

Prosecutors say Middleton killed the three people because he feared they might tell law enforcement about his meth activity.

Middleton's girlfriend, Maggie Hodges, in 1998 pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of armed criminal action for her involvement in the three shooting deaths.