PERRYVILLE MAN'S MURDER TRIAL DUE IN SEPTEMBER

JACKSON -- A Perryville man charged with murder will stand trial in September, a Cape Girardeau circuit judge said Monday.

Russell Allen Cline, 39, will have a two-day jury trial starting Sept. 27, with Judge John Grimm presiding. The trial will take place in Jackson on a change of venue.

Cline has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of William H. Dial on Feb. 8. He died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

In a preliminary hearing in April, witnesses had said Cline shot Dial as part of an extortion attempt that had gone wrong. At the time, Dial was waiting to complete a drug sale with another man, said a witness.

Another man charged with murders in Perryville will eventually appear in Cape Girardeau County court, but a date has not been set, the circuit clerk's office said.

Samuel David Lowe of St. Louis will face a possible death penalty in connection with the stabbing deaths of an elderly Perryville couple on April 7.

Lowe, 38, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, a class B felony of burglary and a class A felony of robbery.

Lowe will represented by attorney David Kenyon of the St. Louis public defender's office. In cases involving the death penalty, the public defender's office has special units in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis that handle trials.