Suspect in October Cape Girardeau murders ordered to stand trial

Samuel R. "Ray Ray" Hughes' own words to a police detective provided enough evidence Tuesday to send him to trial on three counts of murder, burglary and attempted arson.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle called six witnesses to the stand in the preliminary hearing on Hughes's role in the Oct. 27 shooting deaths of Jamie Lynn Orman, her 15-year-old son Derrick Orman and the unborn child that Jamie Orman was carrying at the time of her death. But it was the final witness, Cpl. Steve Jarrell of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, describing his Oct. 28 interrogation of Hughes, who tied the suspect to the crime.

After hearing the evidence, Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp found there is enough evidence to send the case to trial and ordered that Hughes, 25, appear Jan. 4 before Circuit Judge William Syler.

Jarrell, a member of the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad, said that during the interview, which he took over from Cape Girardeau detective Jimmy Smith, Hughes admitted going to the home at 1224 N. Missouri Ave. with Ryan T. Patterson with intent to steal computers, televisions and cash supposedly stashed in a freezer in the garage.

Hughes admitted entering the garage of the home through a window, Jarrell said.

Patterson, 28, is accused of three counts of first-degree murder, burglary and attempted arson. On Monday, Syler ordered that a jury be brought from Pemiscot County to hear the case. Patterson is scheduled to be in court again Jan. 19, and Swingle said Tuesday he will decide by then whether to seek the death penalty.

According to documents filed previously in the case, Patterson was urged to go to the home on North Missouri Avenue to kill John Lawrence, the estranged husband of his girlfriend, Michelle Lawrence. The documents, sworn affidavits from investigators, said Patterson entered a basement door after he and Hughes broke into the garage.

Forensic results

Once in the home, investigators charged, Patterson shot Derrick Orman once in the cheek. Photos of Derrick Orman, presented as evidence Tuesday showed what forensic pathologist Dr. Russell Deidiker, who performed the autopsies, described in testimony as "tattooing" from powder burns of a point-blank shot.

Patterson allegedly then shot Jamie Orman at close range as she used her arm to shield her head.

Deidiker also testified that the unborn child Jamie Orman carried weighed just over 3 pounds and that she had been pregnant was 33 to 36 weeks.

Michelle Lawrence is accused of a single count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Investigators have said she admitted wanting her husband dead to collect nearly $270,000 in insurance on his life. Patterson reportedly also told investigators the plan was to burn the house to collect an additional $125,000 in insurance on the home. Michelle Lawrence denied wanting Jamie Orman killed, investigators reported.

Michelle Lawrence was a beneficiary on those insurance policies, John Lawrence testified Tuesday.

At the time of the shootings, Orman's two younger sons were asleep upstairs. Jacob Orman, Jamie Orman's 14-year-old son, testified he was awakened by the sound of a door breaking and that he thought he heard three shots. Jacob Orman found his brother wounded but alive. He said his mother was dead when he saw her.

After returning upstairs, Jacob Orman called 911 to report the shootings and attempted to help keep his brother alive.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Wayne Williams, a public defender from Farmington, Mo., Jacob Orman was asked if he heard anything else. "After the first shot, I heard my mother scream 'No,'" he said.

When Jarrell testified, he said Hughes told two stories. In one version, Hughes said he returned to the front of the house after finding nothing to steal in the garage. In the second version, Hughes said he went to the basement door and saw Patterson standing over Derrick Orman.

Hughes also said Patterson brought a can of gasoline to the home that morning, Jarrell testified. A red plastic gas can, three-quarters full of gas without a lid, was found in the bed of John Lawrence's pickup truck. The gas can was not there when Lawrence left home for work the previous evening, Lawrence testified.

Williams also asked Kamp to reduce Hughes' bond, which is set at $500,000. Kamp denied the request.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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