A second suspect in the murder of Richard Berry now faces much stiffer charges after rejecting a possible plea bargain.

Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins filed an amended three-count complaint against Primalton Peterson of St Joseph, including one count of first-degree murder. That charge includes an alternative count of second-degree murder. Peterson now also faces one count of abandonment of a corpse and one count of armed criminal action.

The victim’s body was recovered from the Third Fork of the Platte River

Three people were initially charged with second degree murder for what was described as an attempted drug robbery. Also charged were Kelli Hoard and Sean Liechti.

Investigators put together a timeline of the events leading to the fatal stabbing through statements from the defendants, informant’s information, and telephone records. In a court affidavit a detective says the three suspects took the victim to an area near the 10000 block of SE Saxton Road in Buchanan County on April 25. Investigators say Ms Hoard stabbed the victim repeatedly. Then, according to the affidavit, Mr Peterson handed Ms Hoard a second knife, and she then allegedly continued to stab the victim multiple times.

Prosecutors believe Mr Peterson and Mr Liechti then threw the body over the side of a bridge and into the river.

After waiving his preliminary hearing on the new complaint, Mr Peterson was scheduled for a jury trial January 26. A pretrial conference is planned January 21.

Last week, Mr Scroggins upgraded the charges against Ms Hoard as well. She now faces the same three counts as Mr Peterson and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing next month.

Mr Liechti is due back in court for a trial setting September 10, after a preliminary hearing in May. So far, he’s still facing the original second-degree murder charge.