Third suspect in Missouri Avenue killings arrested; prosecutor says all involved now in custody

Click here to download the probable cause statement in the Samuel Ray Hughes case

With three suspects in custody in the Tuesday shooting deaths of a woman, her 15-year-old son and her unborn child, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said he thinks everyone involved in the crime has been arrested.

On Thursday, Swingle filed three counts of second-degree murder against Samuel Ray Hughes, 25, 326 S. Lorimier St., accusing him of taking part in a burglary that was part of the plan to kill John Lawrence in the pre-dawn hours at his home at 1224 N. Missouri Ave. Hughes is also accused of a single count of first-degree burglary.

Jackson policemen Ryan Dooley and Justin Kemp investigate a white Mazda 626 across the street from 1224 N. Missouri Ave. Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, 2009, in Cape Girardeau. (Kit Doyle)

Lawrence, who was working the night shift at an area factory, was not at home and escaped harm. His girlfriend, Jamie Lynn Orman, 30, and her 15-year-old son, Derrick Orman, were there, and both died of gunshot wounds. Jamie Orman was seven months pregnant.

Ryan T. Patterson. 28, is accused of firing the fatal shots and was arrested Wednesday on three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and a single count of burglary. Michelle R. Lawrence, 39, is the estranged wife of John Lawrence and is accused of a single count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Lawrence allegedly initiated a plot to kill her husband and burn the house they owned jointly to obtain a $350,000 insurance payout before their divorce was final.

Michelle Lawrence and Ryan Patterson lived together at 921 Hackberry St, Apt. 111.

Patterson faces a possible death sentence if convicted. Hughes could be sentenced to life in prison, and Michelle Lawrence could be put in prison for five to 15 years. Patterson's bond has been set at $750,000. The bond for Hughes is $500,000, and Michelle Lawrence's bond is $250,000.

Swingle said Thursday he does not expect the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad to bring him any more suspects for prosecution. At one point, the squad had more than 30 law enforcement officers from six jurisdictions working together to solve the shootings.

Michelle Lawrence and Patterson had brief appearances for initial arraignment via video feed from the Cape Girardeau County Jail before Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp. They were certified for the services of the public defender's office, and Kamp set a preliminary hearing for 1 p.m. Nov. 25.

John Lawrence knew little would happen when Patterson and his estranged wife appeared before Kamp. But he went anyway, determined to follow the case from the beginning as he seeks to understand the crime.

Lawrence said he went "just so I could see the looks on their faces."

The picture was somewhat unsettling, he said. "There was no emotion whatsoever in Ryan. He was kind of cutting up" with the other prisoners "and Michelle, she kind of seemed saddened by the whole thing, but I don't know if that is even true."

According to the sworn statements filed in court Thursday, Hughes went to the home John Lawrence shared with Jamie Orman to take part in a burglary.

In the probable-cause affidavit, Detective Jimmy Smith of the Cape Girardeau Police Department wrote that Michelle Lawrence revealed that Hughes, who she called "Ray Ray" in the interview, had accompanied Patterson to the North Missouri Avenue home. Patterson told her about Hughes' participation, Michelle Lawrence told detectives Don Perry and Darren Estes. Investigators later identified "Ray Ray" as Hughes.

Smith and Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputy Jamie Malugen interviewed Hughes on Wednesday, Smith wrote. Hughes told investigators that Patterson asked him along so they could commit a burglary together.

Patterson "told him the people who lived there had a lot of televisions and computers," Smith wrote.

The pair entered an attached garage, Smith reported Hughes as saying, but could not gain entry to the home. Patterson "told him there was supposed to be a large amount of money hidden in the deep freeze. Samuel Ray Hughes said he looked inside the freezer but did not find anything," Smith wrote.

After attempting and failing to enter the home, the two exited through the window and Patterson told Hughes to be the lookout while he entered by kicking in a back door, Smith wrote. "He said Ryan came back outside quickly, shouting 'Come on! Come on! We've got to go!'" Smith wrote.

The sworn statement does not say whether Patterson admitted the killings, but Hughes told the investigators that Patterson had a gun, with a potato attached to silence the muzzle sound. As they drove away, Patterson talked about the people in the home having "insurance and good stuff" and as he dropped Hughes off at a home on Mill Street, Patterson waved the gun and said, "Loose lips sink ships."

Hughes wasn't the first person Patterson asked to act as a lookout. According to statements filed in the charges against all three, a co-worker of both Patterson and Michelle Lawrence was asked if she would help for $15,000. Asked to explain, Patterson told the co-worker that Michelle Lawrence wanted John Lawrence and Jamie Orman killed. The $15,000, he explained, would come from insurance proceeds paid out on Lawrence's life and from a planned arson to burn the home.

Patterson drove the co-worker by the home at 1224 N. Missouri Ave. after 1 a.m. Tuesday and told her of his plans while on an errand to buy cigarettes. Patterson was at the co-worker's home but left after a confrontation on her porch in which he brandished a .44-caliber pistol fitted with a telescopic sight.

Autopsy results showed that the Ormans died of gunshots from a .44-caliber weapon.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

1224 N. Missouri Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO

326 S. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, MO

921 Hackberry St., Cape Girardeau, MO