SIKESTON MAN CLAIMS INNOCENCE AFTER CROSS-BURNING INCIDENT

A Southeast Missouri man accused of burning a cross in front of a black family's residence has been a member of the NAACP and worked at a funeral home that caters to blacks, a federal public defender said.

Justin Scapino of Sikeston, Mo., appeared in federal court in Cape Girardeau Thursday for a detention hearing. The 23-year-old is charged with racial intimidation for a Nov. 3 cross burning in Sikeston.

A man and his sister living at the residence reported to police that about 1 a.m. they looked out a window and saw the 8-foot-tall burning cross. They fled from their home and called police from a pay phone, said Larry Ferrell, assistant U.S. attorney.

Following footprints left in the rain-soaked ground, police followed a path that led from the cross to the residence of 17-year-old Thomas Lehmann. In his residence police found nails, a hammer, gasoline for igniting a fire and wood for building a cross. They also found a book listing 4,000 Internet sites for various Klu Klux Klan activities and a Klan hood and robe, Ferrell said.

Lehmann told police that Scapino had assisted him with the cross burning.

Lehmann's case cannot be handled in federal court because he was 17 at the time the incident occurred, Ferrell said. Lehmann was charged in Missouri state court.

Although Scapino had given police a signed confession admitting to the crime, federal public defender Jeffrey Rosenswank told the court that the admission of guilt was coerced by police.

"He adamantly denies knowing anything about this cross burning," Rosenswank said.

Along with purchasing a one-year membership in the NAACP, Scapino has used his musical talents to play organs in black churches on several occasions, the defense attorney said.

Scapino had also worked for the Sparks Funeral Home in Charleston, Mo., which is black owned and operated.

"They are making him out to be a person of great violence, but he has not been convicted of anything at 23 years old," Rosenswank said.

Ferrell cited seven separate incidents that occurred between July and October that he said demonstrate Scapino's violent, racist tendencies.

Scapino had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Scott County in September, Ferrell said. He alleged Scapino paid a man $100 to tape two cans of starter fluid to the muffler of a car owned by Sammie Passley of Sikeston. Passley, who is black, discovered the cans and removed them before starting his car.

On Sept. 9, police said Scapino called the Missouri Delta Medical Center posing as Capt. Drew Juden of the Sikeston police. He attempted to get medical information about other individuals using the false identity, Ferrell said.

On Oct. 3, Scapino was involved in placing ingredients for methamphetamine under Passley's car, and then reporting the location of the ingredients to police, Ferrell said.

Scapino is also alleged to have burglarized Passley's residence, threatened the Scott County prosecutor with a bomb and reported a false burglary by two black men at a convenience store where he worked, the attorney said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lewis Blanton is expected to issue a ruling on whether Scapino can be released prior to his trial sometime next week.