SLAIN SCOTT CITY WOMAN HAD RELATIONSHIP WITH SUSPECT

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- A 57-year-old woman who was found slain last week had a romantic relationship with one of the men charged with her murder, police said.

Charles "Scott" Biggs, 31, had been in a relationship with Willie Mae Vasquez since last year, Sgt. Rick Sheren said.

Scott Biggs and his cousin, 36-year-old Gary Wayne Biggs, have been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the death of Vasquez.

Scott Biggs gave investigators details concerning the killing during two and a half hours of questioning last Wednesday, Sheren said.

He had been asked to come in on Tuesday to talk to police, but said he had car problems. Scott Biggs came to talk willingly on Wednesday, Sheren said.

"When we asked him if he would take a polygraph test, he got very emotional and said he wanted to die," Sheren said.

Scott Biggs then told Sheren, a deputy from the Scott County Sheriff's Department, and two detectives from Wolsey Investigative Service Inc. how he and his cousin killed Vasquez, police said.

The private detectives were hired by Susan Steel of Commerce, Mo., Vasquez's daughter.

In a confession both handwritten and recorded on videotape, Scott Biggs said that Gary Biggs was hiding in bushes close to a rock quarry near the Mississippi River. As Vasquez walked past, Gary Biggs came out from the bushes and struck her in the back of her head three times with a hatchet, said sheriff's Cpl. Jerry Bledsoe in a probable cause affidavit.

As Vasquez lay on the ground, Gary Biggs took a shovel and struck her in the back of the head, Bledsoe reports.

Deputies took Scott Biggs to the scene of the death near the end of County Road 307 on Wednesday afternoon, Sheren said.

"He showed us approximately where she was buried at," the sergeant said.

Other items belonging to Vasquez, including her glasses, were found nearby along a trail, he said.

It was not usual that Scott Biggs and Vasquez, who did not own a car, would be in the area near the Mississippi River where the body was found.

"He said he had asked her from time to time during the course of their relationship to go fishing," Sheren said.

Investigators believe that alcohol had an influence on the killing, Sheren said.

"For some reason, he just decided to do what he was going to do," Sheren said.

Gary Biggs, who remains in custody at the Scott County Jail with his cousin, will not speak with law enforcement officials, Sheren said.

"All we can get out of him is he wants his attorney," the sergeant said.

Vasquez's death has created fear among many Scott City residents.

"We've got a community very upset," Sheren said. "For the first time in a long time people who didn't used to lock their doors are locking them."

Even though the homicide is alleged to have involved people who knew each other, calls about suspicious individuals and potential prowlers have increased in the area surrounding Vasquez's home at 716 E. Maple St., Sheren said.

"People don't know who they can trust," he said.

Residents of Scott City aren't used to murders, Sheren said.

"I can name on one hand the number of homicides we've had," he said.

The last murder in Scott City involved a 27-year-old man shooting a 17-year-old girl with a shotgun in his home on Keeley Street in 1994. Gordon Evans received two life sentences for second-degree murder and armed criminal action.