Preliminary set for man charged in infant's death

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Dexter, Mo., man charged in connection with the death of his infant son may soon make an appearance in court. Jeremy Whittemore is scheduled to go before Judge Joe Z. Satterfield for a preliminary hearing Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Whittemore stands accused of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of his son, infant Jacob Whittemore, on Dec. 5, 2003. The preliminary trial has been delayed once, due to the lack of a complete autopsy report from the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office. Preliminary reports following the infant's death last December showed he died of shaken baby syndrome.

Dexter Police Detective Trevor Pulley has been leading the investigation into the infant's death, and said Friday that delays such as these are not uncommon with an juvenile autopsy.

"They are going to take a little bit longer because they want to make sure they are very thorough," Pulley said. "You have checks and balances in every department."

Pulley explained that an autopsy of this nature will take even longer than a normal juvenile autopsy, because of the cause of death. Pulley said with Shaken Baby Syndrome, several specialists are involved, which further lengthens the process.

Different aspects in the autopsy may be handled for different specialists.

Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Briney Welborn said the process of obtaining an autopsy report in all cases has been steadily getting slower in the state. Welborn cited under-staffed and under-funded departments as the cause. With agencies handling crime reports receiving less government funding and staff, the reports seem to trickle through the process.

"This is going to be a continuing problem for everybody until

there is more money," Welborn said. "I know, generally

speaking, there are not enough people to do the work."

However, both Pulley and Welbrn were hopeful that a complete autopsy report in this case would be completed soon.