A rejected plea offer means a St Joseph murder suspect will face more serious charges.

Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins tells us Robert Jarrell was offered a plea deal in which he would plead guilty to second degree murder in the beating death of Jason Davies last fall.   Davies body was found in the Missouri River in Leavenworth, Kansas.

In return, Scroggins offered to make no recommendation on sentencing and not file additional charges.

But Mr Jarrell rejected that deal, so last week Scroggins filed an alternative count of first degree murder, plus armed criminal action and abandonment of a corpse.

After a preliminary hearing on Monday, Jarrell was certified for Circuit Court trial on the new charges.   Formal arraignment is scheduled Thursday.

Scroggins says if the case goes to a jury they would be asked to choose between first-degree and second-degree murder.