Trial date for Orman murder case suspect pushed back

A trial date scheduled for Friday for Michelle Lawrence, charged with a felony count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, was postponed by Circuit Judge William Syler to 2 p.m. June 24 at the Bollinger County Courthouse in Marble Hill, Mo. Lawrence is one of three people allegedly involved in the Oct. 27, 2009, murders of Jamie Lynn Orman and her sons. Authorities think Lawrence was the mastermind behind the plot that led to the fatal shooting of Orman, her teenage son Derrick and her unborn child. Prosecutors charge Lawrence with hatching a plot to kill her estranged husband John Lawrence and burn down his Cape Girardeau home to collect insurance money, a plot that ended with the death of Orman and her sons when John Lawrence wasn't at the home. One defendant in the case, Samuel Hughes, pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in connection with the murders in January. Police said Hughes was an accomplice to alleged trigger man, Ryan Patterson, whose trial is set for July 28 in Pemsicot County.