CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) — A 50-year-old southwest Missouri man pleaded guilty to beating and stabbing an elderly man to death while trying to steal prescription drugs.

Brian Benefiel was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with a chance of parole after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in the death of 87-year-old Raymond Ritchhart.

The Joplin Globe reports Benefiel had faced a first-degree murder charge in the December 2013 killing of Ritchhart, who suffered from cancer.

Prosecutors say Benefiel’s wife had done some housekeeping for Ritchhart. She accompanied her husband to the house to steal prescription drugs. The couple left with 12 hydrocodone tablets.

Kelli Benefiel, who is charged with first-degree murder, burglary and armed criminal action, has a hearing set for Sept. 11.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis police department will have to turn over records in a scandal over 2006 World Series tickets after the Missouri Supreme Court threw out a final appeal to block the documents’ release.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the state high court’s ruling Tuesday clears the way for release of documents on the department’s internal investigation of officers who gave friends and family members tickets that had been confiscated from scalpers.

Eight officers and six supervisors were disciplined as part of the scandal.

The officers had appealed decisions by a St. Louis judge and a state appellate court who have ruled that records from the department’s internal investigation be released.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued to make all the records public.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 45-year-old New Jersey man has been convicted of violating federal law by trafficking in Missouri paddlefish.

Federal prosecutors in Kansas City said Petr Babenko of Vineland, New Jersey, was found guilty Wednesday of illegally trafficking in paddlefish and of participating in a conspiracy to illegally buy and sell paddlefish.

Babenko was arrested in 2013 when federal and state authorities conducted an undercover investigation as part of paddlefish conservation efforts. The decline in other caviar sources has led to an increased demand for paddlefish caviar, which has spurred a paddlefish population decline.

Prosecutors say the retail value of the caviar Babenko and another defendant had is estimated to be between $30,000 and $50,000.

Babenko faces up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000.

THEDFORD, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a minor earthquake has shaken the Sandhills region of Nebraska.

The tremor occurred just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, and its epicenter was situated 22 miles southeast of Thedford.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake registered a magnitude of 3.6, which was unlikely to cause any damage. Local residents

Broken Bow radio station KCNI reports several residents thought it was thunder and lightening. Others reported that it shook their homes, upset their dogs, and one report that it shook a passing train.

The last known earthquake to rumble the area was a 3.0 earthquake that shook Oconto, Nebraska in September of 2010.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a stun gun was used on a man after he threw bricks at a south-central Kansas law enforcement building and expressed outrage about police shootings.

Surveillance cameras at the Law Enforcement Center in Newton captured police officers deploying a Taser on the man Tuesday afternoon.

The Newton Police Department said in a Facebook post Tuesday evening that the man at one point “indicated he was tired of seeing news reports of police officers shooting people and decided today he would take a stand.” The man can be heard on the video repeatedly saying, “Shoot me.”

The department says that it appears that the man is from another state and was passing through the community.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police are investigating after a 76-year-old woman was robbed and punched in the face inside a church in Omaha.

According to an Omaha Police Department report, the woman from Johnston was reading the parish newsletter Sunday morning inside the entrance of St. Cecilia Cathedral when two males entered the church, stole her purse and punched her in the face. The woman hit her head against the side of the table as she fell down.

The suspects then fled the scene.

The woman was helped by a parishioner before being taken to Creighton University Medical Center with a large bump and scrapes on her forehead. She has been released.

Authorities are still looking for the two suspects who were caught on surveillance cameras inside the church.

GALENA, Mo. (AP) — A man who fled from police in a stolen car has died from injuries sustained in a southwest Missouri crash.

Daniel Hinton, 36, died at a Springfield hospital where he was taken after Monday’s crash.

The Stone County Sheriff’s Department says the driver took off after a deputy received a report about a suspicious vehicle near a Kimberling City business and tried to investigate.

Eventually, the vehicle rolled and the driver was ejected near a trailer park. Authorities determined that the car and several items inside the vehicle had been stolen from Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 68-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after placing an advertisement for a sex slave online.

Paul Michael Tegeler was sentenced Wednesday on charges of coercion and enticing a juvenile. He was ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and to be on supervised release for 10 years.

Nebraska State Patrol was alerted in April 2014 that Tegeler had placed an online advertisement looking for a sex slave. According to prosecutors, authorities posed as a 13-year-old girl and communicated with Tegeler, and he invited the girl to meet him for sex.

Authorities also say Tegeler asked for nude pictures of the girl and sent a one-way bus ticket for her to travel from her home to Lexington.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis-area pastor who admits bilking $3.3 million from at least 18 mostly elderly investors has been ordered to spend seven years in federal prison.

Forty-year-old Jim Staley of Wentzville apologized to victims in the courtroom’s standing-room-only gallery during his sentencing hearing Wednesday in St. Louis. He pleaded guilty in April to four felony wire fraud counts.

Prosecutors say Staley was an insurance agent before forming a financial consultancy and turning to sales for California-based B&B Equity Group.

Though he wasn’t a registered in Missouri to deal securities, he sold investments even after the Missouri secretary of state’s office told him to stop in 2009.

Staley’s attorney insists the fraud was unrelated to his clergy work. A prosecutor says some victims invested because he was a “nice religious man.”

WINSLOW, Maine (AP) — A Maine police department is offering drug dealers a free service to get their competition off the streets.

The Kennebec Journal reports the Winslow Police Department posted a flier on its Facebook page Monday afternoon encouraging drug dealers to fill out a form detailing the names, addresses and cellphone numbers of their competitors.

The flier also asks them to list where and to whom their competitors sell and who their supplier is.

In bold red letters, the flier begins, “Attention Drug Dealers.” It continues: “Is your competition costing you customers, and MONEY?”

The flier says, “We’re here to help!”

Winslow Police Chief Shawn O’Leary acknowledges the posting was made tongue-in-cheek but says he’s hopeful it could lead to good police tips.