ST. LOUIS MAN PLEADS INNOCENT IN DEATHS OF ELDERLY PERRYVILLE COUPLE

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- A St. Louis man accused of slaying an elderly couple last April pleaded innocent during his arraignment on Friday, the Perry County prosecutor said.

The public defender representing Samuel David Lowe was granted a request for a change of venue for the proceedings to Cape Girardeau County, said Thomas Hoeh, Perry County prosecutor.

Lowe, 38, has been 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. This is in connection with the deaths of Edgar "Eddie" O. Sauer, 84, and his wife, Leona M. Sauer, 83. The couple had been longtime residents of Perryville, and owned a motel and restaurant.

Perryville police have said that Lowe was staying at the Sauer's motel at the time of their deaths. He was in Perryville to appear in court for a probation violtion involving a drug charge, police said.

Lowe will next appear in court in Jackson on Aug. 28, Hoeh said, and it is likely that a trial date will be set.

Lowe is being held on a $1 million bond.