Murder case dismissed with new evidence

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Murder charges against a Scott City, Mo., man were dropped Tuesday after new evidence suggested his wife may have committed suicide after all.

On Jan. 24, Jerry W. Kennedy was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder, seven years after the death of his estranged wife, Ruth Kennedy, was first ruled a suicide.

He'd been in jail since on a $250,000 cash-only bond. He was released Tuesday when the case was dismissed.

Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Gray dismissed the charges without prejudice, which means they may be re-filed at a later date.

"The case was based in large part on the forensic testing that was done at the time of the shooting," Gray said.

He said more testing, as well as a recent autopsy of Ruth Kennedy, raised doubts about a successful prosecution.

"The new information told us we had some problems there," he said.

Defense attorney Alan Moss says the original forensic evidence used to charge Kennedy actually cleared him. Moss also accuses a Bollinger County sheriff's deputy of being disingenuous when he accused Kennedy of murder.

"I don't think there was any misconduct on part of prosecuting attorney or the judge," Moss said. "But I don't think the probable-cause affidavit was entirely truthful."

On Dec. 8, 1994, Ruth Kennedy died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Jerry Kennedy maintained that he didn't shoot his wife.

Gunshot residue

Evidence suggested that gunshot residue appeared on Jerry Kennedy's hands, but not on Ruth Kennedy's. Deputy Shawn Davis zeroed in on that fact in the affidavit that led to the murder charge.

But results from the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab, Moss said, showed the residue on Jerry Kennedy's hands didn't match the gun that killed Ruth Kennedy and that fact was evident in the lab results from the beginning.

He said his client is crushed about what the murder charge has done to his reputation. Also, Kennedy's two months in jail has been a financial hardship to his family, Moss said.

Moss said he and his client are exploring possibility of civil suits.

But Gray doesn't regret filing the charges.

"Based on everything we had in front of us, it looked pretty strongly like we had a first-degree murder," he said. "It was a decision based on forensic testing."

abuchanan@semissourian.com

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