State digest 11/09/03

Male lion kills female at Springfield zoo

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Tensions between the two lions at Springfield's Dickerson Park Zoo came to a violent end when one attacked and killed the other, zoo officials said.

Thursday's attack by the male lion, Kenya, on the female, Kierra, was witnessed in part by a zoo staffer and two vendors working at a nearby concession trailer, zoo director Mike Crocker said.

"Everything seemed to have been resolved," Crocker said. "What triggered this, what happened, we'll never know."

Crocker said it would not be difficult to find a female lion to replace Kierra but that doing so might cause additional problems.

"Because the male has killed once, it's possible he could do it again," he said.

Man convicted in fatal child abuse case

LINN, Mo. -- Jurors convicted a man Friday of fatally abusing his 2-year-old foster son in a case that prompted elected officials to seek sweeping changes of Missouri's child welfare system.

Later Friday night, the same jury recommended John Wesley Dilley serve 15 years in prison for his conviction of child abuse resulting in death. Jurors also recommended a five-year sentence for Dilley's second-degree assault conviction.

The convictions stem from two separate incidents in August 2002 in which Dilley was accused of violently shaking or striking the head of his foster child, Dominic James.

A judge scheduled a Dec. 19 sentencing hearing, and allowed Dilley to remain free on $35,000 bond until then.

Dominic's death prompted three government reviews of the state's child abuse and neglect system.

Inmate missing from St. Clair County Jail

OSCEOLA, Mo. -- Authorities were searching Saturday for one of three inmates who escaped from the St. Clair County Jail by removing a window from a second-floor window and scaling down the side of the building with bed sheets.

Two of the inmates, whose names weren't released, were recaptured Friday night within a block of the jail after a motorist saw the inmates escaping and alerted authorities, Sheriff Ron Snodgrass said.

But the search continued Saturday for the third inmate, Darin G. Sisco, 36, who had been jailed in St. Clair since May after he was detained by the U.S. Marshal Service on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Snodgrass said.

Man indicted in slaying of unarmed stalker

ST. LOUIS -- A suburban St. Louis man was indicted Friday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed stalker -- a case that has stoked debate over what's self-defense and what's unjustified use of lethal force.

The St. Charles County grand jury also charged Richard "Rick" Pearia, 51, with armed criminal action. Both charges, replacing identical ones on a criminal complaint filed last month, carry a possible life sentence.

The Pearias' attorneys have argued that the Oct. 7 death of Donald Brinkmeyer near the couple's home west of St. Louis was justifiable self-defense, coming eight days after his wife, Kerstin Pearia got a court-issued protection order against Brinkmeyer.

Body parts found in FedEx package

KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Two legs and an arm express-mailed to the home of a man who brokers body parts broke no laws, police said in this St. Louis suburb.

The body parts shipped via FedEx were sent from a Las Vegas donor research company to the man, who acts as a broker for doctors needing body parts for research projects, Kirkwood police spokeswoman Diane Scanga said.

The shipment was discovered Wednesday when one of the boxes was found leaking at a Federal Express depot in St. Louis. Workers found each package to contain a limb, wrapped in dry ice.

The man was issued a warning for operating an unlicensed home business, Scanga said.

-- From wire reports