State briefs 4/11/16

Area man convicted of killing clerk

ST. LOUIS -- A Southeast Missouri man was found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a night manager at a St. Louis hotel. Joseph Bowens, 45, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was convicted Friday of killing Scott Knopfel, 50, of St. Louis on Jan. 15, 2015. Knopfel was shot in the chest and face during a robbery just before 3 a.m. at the Drury Inn & Suites hotel. Prosecutors said Knopfel's DNA was found on a leather jacket found at Bowens' home, and an autopsy found Bowens' DNA on Knopfel's left hand. No sentencing date has been set.

Man charged in crash that killed two

ST. LOUIS -- Prosecutors said a St. Louis man was drunk and driving more than twice the speed limit when he caused a fiery crash that killed a man and his infant daughter. Eric Wolf, 29, was charged Friday with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of armed criminal action. He was ordered held on $250,000 cash-only bond. Police said Wolf was driving a 2015 Ford Mustang about 12:45 a.m. March 24 when it rear-ended a Subaru driven by 40-year-old Antwon Jones that was stopped at a traffic light. Jones and 2-month-old Scarlett Rose Jones were killed in the crash. Investigators believe Wolf was driving more than 70 mph in a 30 mph zone before impact.

Two die in fire in St. Louis suburb

ST. LOUIS -- Two people are dead after a fire broke out at a suburban St. Louis home, and neighbors were unable to pull them to safety. The fire was reported at 12:30 a.m. Saturday in a small home in Country Club Hills, Missouri. Neighbor Darnell Gardner said he ran to the house but couldn't get through the front because the smoke was too thick. He said he and others gathered at a rear window where a paraplegic man was seen on the floor. Gardner said they tried to pull the man through the window, but he was too heavy. Firefighters had to cut a larger opening to get the man out. The paraplegic man died, and firefighters recovered another dead man from a front room.

School bus hit by bullets; 3 charged

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Three people are charged in connection with a shooting in which bullets also hit a bus carrying Jefferson City Public School students. A 20-year-old and 23-year-old were taken into custody. A third suspect who was 17 years old was being sought. All three are charged with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. A school bus carrying 21 elementary-school pupils was driving through the area when it was hit by four bullets, including one that broke a window.

Warhol prints stolen from art museum

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Someone broke into a Missouri art museum and stole an unknown number of prints of Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Cans." The theft at the Springfield Art Museum happened between 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:45 a.m. Thursday. The website for London-based art auction house Christie's said a similar 1968 color screenprint from Warhol's "Campbell's Soup I" series sold for more than $30,000 in 2015. City spokeswoman Cora Scott said all the works at the museum are covered by a fine-arts insurance policy that has an annual premium of about $14,000.

-- From wire reports