News release from prosecuting attorney on Clay Waller charges

The following is a news release sent out Monday morning, April 23, 2012, by Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle regarding murder and evidence tampering charges against Clay Waller.

News release

On Monday, April 23, 2012, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle charged James Clay Waller, II, age 41, with first degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in connection with the murder of Waller's wife, Jacque Sue Waller, who has been missing since June 1, 2011.

The murder charge alleges that on or about June 1, 2011, Waller killed Jacque Sue Waller, after deliberation, "by unknown means." The first tampering with evidence charge alleges that he "concealed the body of Jacque Sue Waller with the purpose to impair its availability in the investigation of the murder of Jacque Sue Waller." The second tampering with evidence charge alleges that he "concealed bloodstained carpet from the hallway of his home at 1121 Woodland in Jackson, Missouri, with the purpose to impair its availability in the investigation of the murder of Jacque Sue Waller."

First degree murder carries a punishment of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty because none of the statutory aggravating factors are involved. Thus, life without parole is the maximum sentence Waller could receive. Tampering with evidence is a class D felony. On each of those two counts Waller faces up to four years in prison.

Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp set Waller's bond at one million dollars.

The charges came after a ten-month investigation conducted by several law enforcement agencies working together, including the Jackson Police Department, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, the Cape Girardeau Police Department, the Southeast Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department, the Missouri Highway Patrol, the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and the FBI.

Waller is currently in federal custody serving a 5-year prison sentence for transmitting a threat over the internet. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has agreed to make him available for the prosecution of this murder case.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.