A woman originally charged with tampering with the murder weapon is now charged with felony murder. Angela Henderson was charged just one day after the man accused of stabbing Sam Justice pleaded guilty to an amended charge.

Prosecutors say three people went to Sam Justice’s apartment in December of 2012 to get some money so they could leave town. Kim Keith pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony murder, just as his jury trial was starting. It appears he is poised to testify against Ms Henderson.

Charges of evidence tampering were also filed against Henderson’s son Joshua Mollet, but he has been ruled incompetent for trial, and is being treated at a mental health facility in Fulton, Missouri.

Henderson was scheduled to appear in court on the felony murder charge Friday.

A detainee being held at the Daviess-Dekalb County Regional Jail has been charged with Elder Abuse for allegedly punching his cellmate hundreds of times as the cellmate, age 63, was lying in his bunk.

Jared Nachtigal of Centerville, Iowa is accused in court documents of hitting Gary Crose nearly 250 times in the head and face on July 2. The victim required hospital evaluation for facial swelling and multiple facial bone fractures, plus lacerations, abrations, bruising and bleeding.

 

Nachtigal was being held for Iowa authorities on numerous charges including assault. He’s now facing a class-A felony charge of Elder Abuse in the 1st Degree, and is due back in Daviess County court August 4.

Elder Abuse in the 1st Degree is a class-A felony, for which the punishment is a term of not less than ten years and not to exceed thirty years, or life imprisonment.

The bar owner challenging the city’s new smoking ban must soon fight that battle on two fronts. Buchanan County Circuit Judge Randall Jackson has notified lawyers in the case that he will allow St Jo Frontier Casino to intervene in the case, and they will join the city as defendant.

Judge Jackson has not filed his ruling in the case by mid-day Thursday, but a proposed order has been filed electronically.

Lawyers in the case confirm being notified by the judge that his ruling would allow the casino’s lawyers to defend its interests in court. In court documents they argued that removing the casino gaming area’s exemption would have a negative, and perhaps permanent effect on the gambling house.

The casino’s general manager noted in an affidavit that he believes there would be a substantial, and possibly fatal drop in revenues from competitors in the area if St Jo Frontier Casino were forced to bar smoking.

The lawyer for the bar owners seeking to throw out the ban acknowledges he now has two distinct adversaries. But Jonathan Sternberg says it just shows that St Jo Frontier Casino is worried.

A member of Judge Jackson’s staff on Wednesday said he had not yet entered or signed an order on the motion to name the casino as a second defendant, but that was expected to happen soon.

The Chamber of Commerce is unveiling a new program to encourage executives to not only work in Saint Joseph, but also live here. Chamber President and CEO Patt Lilly says linking incentives to requirements that employees live here doesn’t work.

Lilly says the new strategy is to provide a one or two minute “flash” video about Saint Joseph along with a positive brochure, and asking that they give it some thought and consider living here. Lilly says work on this began last year in meetings with business leaders and site developers.

 

A St Joseph woman will serve five years in federal prison for a wire-fraud scheme in which she stole nearly $1 million from two outdoor sign companies in which she was a part owner. Federal investigators say the full extent of her thefts will be nearly impossible to ascertain.

A US Judge on Tuesday ordered Vicky Diane McDonell to pay more than $940,000 in restitution to Max Pro Consultants and MPC Billboards. The amount covers legal fees paid by the victims as well as more than $906 thousand stolen from the companies.

McDonell pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, but prosecutors say she committed more than 2,440 acts of theft, which amounts to one theft every week for 12 years starting in June of 1997.

According to court documents, McDonell paid thousands of dollars from company accounts to her son and teenage daughter for unauthorized work. She also gave her daughter a company credit card, and wrote a $5,000 business check to her mother for work that was never done.

Court documents indicate that McDonell continued to steal from the companies after she was fired. Officials say she obtained a loan against her company car, traded int he company car for apersonal vehicle, and wrote a company check for a payment on the personal vehicle. Authorities also say she spied on other company officials, by hiding a voice-activated digital recorder in their officer to listen to private conversations.

But authorities say the full extent of her crimes may never be known. McDonell sabotaged the victims’ business records, stole four years of bank records and check registers, and erased or locked computer records.

A cancer survivor who graduated from Central High School returns to St Joseph for a film screening this weekend.

Johnny Cathcart recently graduated from NYU with his Master’s in journalism. He filmed “Starting on the Right Foot” for his thesis.

“Starting on the Right Foot” follows a 26-year-old girl Daphne Hegreness, who lost her leg during her battle with cancer.

It depicts the time she relearned how to walk and how she eventually made it to the paralympic trials. It takes the audience along for the adventure while she goes rock climbing and other excursions.

Cathcart received some of the funding for the movie through the crowd-sourcing web site IndieGoGo.  The film will be shown for the first time outside New York at the Paradox Theater at 107 South Sixth in Downtown St Joseph.

Cathcart, a cancer survivor himself, graduated from St. Joseph Central High School and then followed his dreams to New York. He filmed the documentary for his thesis project while pursuing his Master’s degree at New York University (NYU). His goal for sharing his film with the public is to raise awareness and inspire cancer survivors or other patients, as well as the public in general.

The event starts at 6:30pm Saturday night with a social gathering.  Music will be provided by Under the Big Oak Tree.  The screening starts at 7pm.  The event is hosted by the Heartland Health Center for Healing Generosity and Heartland Cancer Center.

If you’d like to attend, you must RSVP to (816)271-6792.

A 33-year-old St Joseph man will serve 15 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a St Joseph man in December, 2012. Kim Keith was scheduled for jury trial Tuesday on a charge of second-degree murder for the death of Sam Justice, but changed his plea to guilty.

Circuit Judge Patrick Robb accepted the guilty plea and ordered Keith to serve 15-years in prison.

The victim was found by his daughter who had to force her way into his apartment at 139 Park Lane.

Investigators believe Keith was one of three people who went to Justice’s apartment to get some money to leave town. The two others were charged with evidence tampering for allegedly disposing of the knife used in the stabbing.

The Livingston County Sheriff is hoping you can help identify a truck and its driver that caused thousands of dollars in crop damage during a trespassing incident.

Sheriff Steve Cox says the black colored Chevrolet pickup had a dent in the tailgate. There was a red colored ATV in the bed of the truck.

Cox says the truck drove through a crop field in southeastern Livingston County on July 12th. He says the driver caused about $2,500 in damages to the crops and was trespassing in the 19000 block of Liv 304.

Please call 660-646-0515 if you see this pickup or know who owns it. You may also email sheriffcox@gmail.com or emenconi@livcoso.org.