TROOPERS NOTE RISE IN SUSPICIOUS DEATHS

Investigations of suspicious deaths in Missouri have never been higher than last year, and Southeast Missouri led the state, Missouri State Highway Patrol officers said.

Including three homicides that led the patrol into Oklahoma and Tennessee, troopers in the region assisted in a record 55 death investigations for 13 Southeast Missouri counties, Capt. James Keathley said.

But when officers and others who deal in death are asked to explain the sudden increase, no clear answer emerges.

Meth use a factor

Keathley suggested that rising use of methamphetamine is partly responsible.

But in Butler County, where death investigations jumped from two in prior years to 10, prosecutor Kevin Barbour can't recall any recent drug-related homicides.

"I've seen turf battles for selling crack, and often times those people are violent," Barbour said. "But it's not like high-noon shootouts in the streets."

In New Madrid County, which had eight more death investigations than the previous year, Sheriff Terry Stevens said many of the homicides he has seen in the past three years have been drug related.

"Methamphetamine is not the sole reason, but I think it's a contributing factor," Stevens said.

The patrol investigated 197 deaths across the state last year, mostly in rural communities.

The types of investigations varied. Four died in Parma, Mo., last May after a child accidentally set a house on fire. A teacher found dead in his Dexter, Mo., classroom proved to be a heart attack victim.

Of these deaths in Southeast Missouri, 26 involved investigating a suspect, and another 14 turned out to be suicides.

To prove that a death was suicide is not always easy.

"We can end up doing about as much work as on a homicide," said Sgt. Don Windham, lead criminal investigator for the patrol's Southeast Missouri unit.

The death of a man found hanging from a tree in a Dexter cemetery seemed obvious, but investigators still had to prove it was a suicide.

"There were one set of tracks in on the snow," Windham said. "But we still had to work it as a homicide."

Eight of the suicides investigated by the patrol occurred in Stoddard County, where only one death investigation had taken place in the previous two years.

Stoddard County coroner Greg Mathis is at a loss for an explanation. But he said assistance from the patrol's investigators made handling the deaths easier.

As a rule, the patrol assists other law enforcement agencies who request help with investigations. Rural police and sheriff's departments often lack the manpower or training to examine a suspicious death, Windham said.

Violent deaths increase

Pathologist Dr. Russell Deidiker handles most autopsies in Southeast Missouri related to suspicious deaths. Although he said it's a fact that violent deaths are increasing, naming their cause is less certain.

"I don't know if you can pinpoint methamphetamine as a cause," said Deidiker of the Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington, Mo.

One explanation for more death investigations is greater questioning by law enforcement about why someone died.

"If someone has a history of heart disease, another might say that's why he died and look no further," Deidiker said. "But that may or may not be the reason."

Only one of last year's homicides remains unsolved. The skeletal remains of a 25-year-old Sikeston, Mo., man were discovered in a grain silo last December after he had been missing for nearly a year. The case of Undraus Nabors is clearly a homicide, but the length of time since his death has left investigators little to work with for now, Windham said.

Over time, it's possible that Nabors' homicide will be solved, he said.

Another homicide that was over 5 years old resulted in an arrest by Windham's investigators last summer. The victim had been shot in September 1994, and his remains weren't discovered in a dump near Matthews, Mo., until February 1995.

By piecing together new information received last year about where Michael Lee Richardson was last seen, officers were able to convince a jury to convict him of voluntary manslaughter in the 1994 killing.

Windham has his own theory about his increased workload. Turnover at law enforcement agencies has resulted in newer, less experienced investigators. They naturally ask for more help, he said.

Windham is glad to assist, but he still hopes this year is more peaceful.

"It wore us out going on all these death calls," he said.

SUSPICIOUS DEATHS

The number of death investigations increased dramatically in Southeast Missouri lst year, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reports. Most were ruled suicides:

1998 (by county)

Butler - 2

Cape Girardeau - 1

Dunklin - 4

Mississippi - 3

New Madrid - 3

Pemiscot - 2

Scott - 2

Stoddard - 1

Total: 18

1999 (by county)

Butler - 2

Cape Girardeau - 1

Dunklin - 1

New Madrid - 1

Pemiscot - 8

Ripley - 1

Scott - 1

Total: 15

2000 (by county)

Butler - 10

Cape Girardeau - 1

Dunklin - 2

Mississippi - 2

New Madrid - 9

Pemiscot - 7

Scott - 4

Stoddard - 14

Wayne - 3

Total: 52