NewsDecember 31, 2013
Top 10 stories of 2013
Editor's note: This compilation of the top 10 stories of the year is based on voting by the Southeast Missourian newsroom staff. Reporters and editors suggested 20 stories; the 10 with the highest number of votes were selected.
Editor's note: This compilation of the top 10 stories of the year is based on voting by the Southeast Missourian newsroom staff. Reporters and editors suggested 20 stories; the 10 with the highest number of votes were selected.
1. Waller's remains found
Nearly two years to the day after she was killed, the remains of Jacque Waller were found May 29. June 1 was the two-year anniversary of the day the Jackson mother of triplets was killed, according to a Southeast Missourian story posted May 31.
The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's office issued a news release about 2 p.m. May 30 stating Jacque Waller's remains were recovered May 29. Clay Waller pleaded guilty June 6 to second-degree murder and received a 20-year prison sentence, according to a June 9 article.
Authorities and family long suspected Jacque Waller's husband, Clay Waller, was responsible for her death, the May 31 article said.
According to the May 31 article, police said Clay and Jacque Waller were going through a divorce and that the couple had attended a hearing the day she disappeared. According to police documents, Jacque Waller, 39, had written in a journal her husband had threatened to kill her if she tried to leave him. On the night Jacque Waller disappeared, police say she told family members she was going to pick up her son from Clay Waller's house, the May 31 article said.
The couple's children, now 8, have been in the custody of Jacque Waller's sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Bob Brenneke, since Jacque Waller's disappearance. Their adoption became official Nov. 12, according to a Nov. 13 article.
2. 'Gone Girl'
This summer, anticipation began building that the movie "Gone Girl" would be filmed in Cape Girardeau. By late August and early September, the city was welcoming A-list stars for the filming of the movie, based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn. Imdb.com says the 20th Century Fox film is expected to be released in fall 2014.
Directed by David Fincher, it will star Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne; Rosamund Pike as his wife, Amy Dunne; Tyler Perry as Tanner Bolt, Nick Dunne's lawyer; and Neil Patrick Harris portraying Amy Dunne's ex-boyfriend Desi Collins.
Other actors in the film are Carrie Coon, a Chicago actress known for stage work; Kim Dickens, whose credits include movies such as "The Blind Side" and the remake of "Footloose" and a recurring role in the TV show "Friday Night Lights"; and Patrick Fugit, who played the lead character, a young writer, in "Almost Famous."
Many local extras took part, as well, and the movie brought an economic boost to the city.
3. George Joseph
In a story posted June 9, George Joseph, 48, of Cape Girardeau was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the May 30 shooting deaths of his wife, Mary, and 18-year-old son, Matthew, at their home on West Cape Rock Drive.
George Joseph suffered a gunshot wound to the head that morning.
On June 4, Detective Sgt. Don Perry and Cpl. Jeff Bonham of the Cape Girardeau Police Department interviewed him in the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
According to a probable-cause statement filed in the case, during that interview, Joseph confessed to the shootings and admitted he killed his wife and son to spare them the pain of impending financial ruin, according to a Nov. 11 article. Several weeks before his arrest on murder charges, George Joseph told a Scott County detective he was running an "investment club" with about 60 members, a June 20 article said.
At a motion hearing, Perry acknowledged that during the conversation, Joseph asked for his attorney several times -- at least once by name, an article posted Oct. 20 said.
During the hearing, Perry and Bonham emphasized they were not asking "guilt-seeking questions" but had gone to the hospital to collect fingerprints and a DNA sample and to find out whether police needed to search for additional suspects, the article said.
Joseph was conscious, alert and "very coherent" during the interview and did not appear to be under the influence of medication, Perry said at the hearing, the article said.
The case is set for a jury trial in September.
4. Smith elected
Republican Jason Smith became the first non-Emerson 8th District Congressional member in decades after his June 4 special election victory over Democrat Steve Hodges, an article posted June 5 said.
Smith replaces Jo Ann Emerson, who left Congress in January shortly after beginning a 10th term to head the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the article said.
In February, Smith beat out a field of more than a dozen Republicans seeking the party's nomination for the special election.
A June 13 article said Smith would serve on the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources and Judiciary committees. The role of committees in Congress is to decide which pieces of proposed legislation move forward for a vote by the entire House or Senate.
A Salem, Mo., native, Smith served as a state representative and speaker pro tem in the Missouri House of Representatives. A lawyer and livestock owner, Smith campaigned for reducing government regulations on business and farms during his bid for Congress.
5. Perryville police chief
The Perryville, Mo., Board of Aldermen accepted the resignation of police chief Keith Tarrillion in March, a story posted March 20 said.
Tarrillion joined the department in 1993 and has served as the city's chief since he was elected in 2002, the article said.
A report by former Secret Service agent Paul Nenninger released in November accuses Tarrillion of unprofessional conduct ranging from sexual harassment to threatening employees, according to an article posted Nov. 7. Tarrillion was arrested Nov. 1 on charges of theft, forgery and making a false report, just days before the Nov. 5 election to decide whether Perryville would continue to elect its chief, according to an article posted Nov. 3.
Online sheriff's department records showed 42-year-old Tarrillion was released from the Perry County Jail the afternoon of Nov. 1, the article said.
Voters rejected that proposition. A Nov. 6 article said only 117 of the 1,330 people who voted on the measure -- 8.8 percent -- supported it, with 1,213, or 91.2 percent, voting against it.
A Nov. 3 article said Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster's office charged Tarrillion with one count each of theft of property or services worth $500 to $25,000, forgery and making a false report, online court records show.
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Tarrillion is accused of filing a false claim with his insurance company, according to a probable-cause statement filed by Sgt. David Bauer of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Nov. 3 article said.
Under an agreement with Tarrillion, the city continued to pay his salary and benefits until he was charged. If he is convicted of a crime, he will have to reimburse the city for the pay and benefits he has received since his resignation; if he is exonerated, the city will owe him back pay from early November to the end of his term April 1, the Nov. 3 article said.
6. Otto Porter Jr.
Selected in June with the third overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, Otto Porter Jr., a Scott County Central School District standout, was honored with multiple events by the district and community in August.
Otto Porter Jr. Day was declared in Scott County. Inside the Ronnie Cookson Gymnasium, Scott County Central dedicated the gym floor as the "Otto Porter Jr. Court."
"His signature will be applied to the gym floor on Thursday morning and covered before the unveiling on Friday evening," Scott County Central superintendent Al McFerren said in an Aug. 14 article. "We are anticipating a huge crowd on Friday."
There was also a recognition by several dignitaries and coaches, including Scott County Central boys basketball coach Ronnie Cookson and Scott County Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger, the Aug. 14 article said.
Additionally, a recognition banquet to retire Porter's high school jersey was held Aug. 17 at Ronnie Cookson Gymnasium, the article said.
7. Deer protection
The Cape Girardeau City Council passed an ordinance July 16, 2012, that would have allowed bowhunting for deer on tracts of at least three acres during four months in the fall. The council had 30 days to repeal the ordinance or the issue would be placed before voters in a future election, according to an article posted Sept. 9, 2012.
Cape Girardeau residents in April overturned an ordinance that would have allowed urban deer bowhunting as a population-control method, the council remains divided about its next step.
As councilman Mark Lanzotti put it in an April 7 article, there remains a question about how to solve the deer problem, and "someone is going to have to answer it."
Since fall 2011, the council has formed resident committees, worked with conservation experts and conducted public meetings to determine the most successful way to manage the city's deer population after receiving complaints from citizens about destroyed plants and landscaping and automobile accidents, the article said.
8. Wal-Mart Market
A Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market -- a smaller version of the related supercenter -- is planned for Cape Girardeau, potentially restoring the property to its original use in the 1960s when a major grocery store was there, an article posted Dec. 12 said.
The application for the Galleria Plaza Subdivision plat was approved by the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission at its meeting earlier in December, but the first reading of an ordinance approving the record plat of the Galleria Plaza Subdivision was postponed after it was removed from the Cape Girardeau City Council agenda for its Monday meeting at the request of the applicant, a Dec. 17 article said.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is listed as the developer in a subdivision plat application filed with the city of Cape Girardeau for the site of the former Plaza Galleria, which stood at 2001 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau. The development proposal still must be approved by the city, the Dec. 12 article said.
The applicant was Buescher Frankenberg Associates Inc., a consultant, engineer and surveyor company from Washington, Mo., according to the company's website, the Dec. 12 article said.
9. Tattoo artist's body found
A St. Louis magazine publisher faces five felony charges in connection with the death of Cape Girardeau tattoo artist Samuel Francis, a Sept. 9 article said.
Online court records show Brent Bouren, 42, publisher of Full Throttle Midwest Magazine, was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with a witness, second-degree assault and felonious restraint, the article said.
Another man, Otto Plopper, 43, of French Village, Mo., was charged with felony abandonment of a corpse, according to online court records.
No one at the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department could comment on the charges against Bouren and Plopper, but The Associated Press reported the charges were related to the Francis case.
Melvin Scherrer, 49, of Bonne Terre, Mo., was charged in August with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, felonious restraint, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Francis' death, the article said.
The case has been continued until Jan. 14.
10. Keith Monia
Former insurance man Keith Monia, 52, was indicted May 16 in Scott County Circuit Court on two counts each of forgery and financial exploitation of the elderly, court records show, according to a June 14 article.
According to a probable-cause affidavit filed April 4 in Scott County, Monia took $220,000 from a Scott City couple, telling them he would invest the money in annuities for them.
One of the cases against Monia is heading back to Stoddard County, Mo., according to a Dec. 29 article.
In late August, Judge Scott Horman sent the case from Scott County to Stoddard County on a change of venue, online court records show. In November, Judge Robert Mayer ordered a second change of venue from Stoddard County to Dunklin County, Mo. Prosecutors filed a motion to reconsider the order, and on Dec. 26, Mayer sent the case back to Stoddard County, the Dec. 29 article said.
A 2010 lawsuit filed by Paul Bollinger of Jackson claims Monia took $80,000 from Bollinger by promising to invest the money for him and then failing to do so. The suit, which went to Wayne County, Mo., in August on a change of venue, is set for a June 11 jury trial, according to a Dec. 29 article.
The case pending in Stoddard County prompted an investigation in Cape Girardeau County that led to eight similar counts against him and three new charges in Scott County, the article said. Monia's next court date on the new Scott County charges is Feb. 13, according to the article.
Monia has not yet been arraigned on the Cape Girardeau County charges, the article said.
rcampbell@semissourian.com
388-3639
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