A Kansas man has been charged for the alleged beating death of William Howard Paige in 2014.
Timothy D. Osborne, 50, of Atchison has been charged in Buchanan County with a Class B. Felony of Voluntary Manslaughter in connection with the death of Paige.
Paige was reported missing by family members which led to the St. Joseph Police Department to investigate and discover his partially decomposed body on May 15, 2014 in the wooded area surrounding Wyeth Hill in St. Joseph.
(Correction from prosecutor’s office: on or around April 18th, not 11th as previously stated.) According to court documents witnesses reported that on or around the evening of April 18th, 2014 Osborne and Paige got into an argument and Osborne allegedly struck Paige multiple times.
“Witnesses report the defendant ordered other persons to leave the area and a large pool of blood, believed to be from the victim’s injuries, was later discovered at the scene,” St. Joseph Police Officer Det. Frank Till said in the probable cause statement. “The victim’s body was discovered approximately 30 yards from the area where the assault occurred and upon autopsy the cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.”
Class B felony voluntary manslaughter carries a penalty range between 5 and 15 years behind bars.
Osborne was arrested in Atchison and is expected to be arraigned in Buchanan, Co. on Friday. He’s currently being held on $75,000 bond.
State Representative Delus Johnson said Saint Joseph has a “real black eye” in the state capital right now.
Johnson said misspent money in the Saint Joseph School District is a major concern.
“A great discussion in the speaker’s office has been the St. Joseph School District,” said Johnson. “To say it’s on the radar in Jefferson City would be saying it’s an understatement. The Speaker has taken a great interest in this and so that’s been a course of some of the discussions in the speaker’s office over the last several days.”
Watch 680 AM KFEQ Barry Birr’s journal on the district’s “black eye” to learn more:
Frank Grispino, president of the Maryville R-II School Board, announces that the superintendent vacancy has been filled by Ms. Becky Albrecht. Ms. Albrecht is currently the Superintendent for Trenton R-IX School District. She has over twenty-two years of experience in the field of education.
“We are very pleased that Ms. Albrecht has accepted this position. Her vision and dedication to students, staff and the community will ensure that Maryville R-II School District continues to be one of the best school districts in Missouri,” said Mr. Grispino.
Ms. Albrecht will start her new position effective July 1, 2015.
A reception will be scheduled in the near future to give the community the opportunity to meet Ms. Albrecht.
Former Caldwell County Deputy Brett O’Dell was charged and convicted for stealing prescription medications and cash from the Caldwell County Evidence vault, now he hopes his story of addiction will help others.
“I don’t think people realize how easy it is to get to where I am right now,” said O’Dell. “I just hope people understand how quickly it does get out of hand and if people around you are seeing it to listen to them because they’re the ones that can see it. You may not believe it but they see it every day. They can see the change.”
In March of 2014 O’Dell was charged with stealing prescription drugs and then around $5,000 in cash from the Caldwell County Evidence vault. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of five years supervised probation Jan., 29, 2015.
O’Dell attributes his downfall to an addiction to the narcotics Oxycodone and Hydrocodone he began taking after a back injury, Part 2.
“Had I not been addicted to drugs or alcohol I mean there’s really no doubt in my mind that none of this would have happened,” said O’Dell during Part 1 of this 5 part series.
The case came to a close with O’Dell facing probation, paying restitution, surrendering his peace officers license and looking for a new career.
“Now that the case is over that was a little bit of weight off my shoulder because I know who I am when I am clean and when I am sober so I know I can do probation and I know I can do all that stuff because I was not perfect but I was a pretty good kid for 26 years,” he said.
He said he’s been clean for a year. The turning point in his addiction, waking up in the hospital after blacking out in his vehicle (Part 3) to see his parents and wife sitting at the foot of his bed.
“Immediately when I woke up I started bawling like a baby because I had no clue what happened what-so-ever and them looking at me and I don’t want to say very nicely it wasn’t very nice but basically telling me to quit my crying,” he said. “That we were going to do something about it. I didn’t have anything to cry about, crying wasn’t going to get me out of anything and I needed to suck it up and go to treatment.”
O’Dell said he went to treatment and confessed everything to investigators (Part 4). But now he’s trying to figure out what to do next because a career in law enforcement is now out of the question.
“That’s the only thing I’ve done in my adult life was be a police officer and now it’s kind of like well now what? I can work odd and end jobs all I want and do stuff like that but that’s not what I want to do,” he said. “I’d like to get into substance abuse counseling that really interests me and I’ve said this since I was in treatment and I stand by this to this day. The best substance abuse councilors are recovering drug addicts or alcoholics because again nobody understands a drug addict or alcoholic like a drug addict or alcoholic.”
He said he hopes to speak more often to try and help prevent others from ending up where he is today. He said addiction isn’t always so easy for people to see and hopes that others can learn from his experiences.
“I’m lucky enough to have a great family and a great wife who didn’t leave me when she probably should have more than once. But other people may not be that lucky,” he said. “They may lose family members, wifes’, husbands’ and I just hope people realize those are the kind of things they’re putting on the line not just their career. I mean my career, I lost my career but I am grateful I could have lost more.”
Leibowitz Menswear and Party City will open open up shop in the East Hills Shopping Center in the Summer of 2015.
Leibowitz Menswear has been in business for over 100 years in St. Joseph. The store offers menswear including tailored suits, ties, hats and shoes. East Hills said Leibowitz will relocate to the outdoor lifestyle section of the mall next to Family Christian this summer.
Party City is a party supply store that offers thousands of theme party and birthday party supplies, costumes and accessories. The new store will be approximately 10,000 square feet and will be located outside on the north side of East Hills next to JCPenney. The store is currently under construction and will open this summer.
“We are proud to welcome Leibowitz and Party City to the East Hills family,” said Caroline Thalasinos, General Manager of East Hills Shopping Center. “These two new stores will add an eclectic mix to our current tenant line‐up, which will bring us one step closer to fulfilling our goal of offering the best selection of shopping and dining in St. Joseph and the surrounding communities.”
The St. Joseph School Board of Education voted Thursday to remove Doug Flowers as the Director of Human Resources and to fire Rick Hartigan as the district’s Chief Operating Officer.
According to a news release from the district sent out Friday afternoon the board voted 5-0 to direct acting Superintendent Dr. Jake Long to remove Doug Flowers as Dir. of Human Resources effective immediately and to reassign him to other administrative duties until June 30, 2015.
The Board also voted to non-renew Flower’s existing administrative contract. According to
Doug Flowers
the district’s website, Flowers has worked for the St. Joseph School District since 1991 when he started as a PE teacher at Spring Garden Middle School. In 2001 he became the Principal at Edison Elementary School and then became the Director of Human Resources in 2006.
Pursuant to applicable Missouri statutes, Flowers will be offered a teaching contract for the 2015-16 academic year.
The vote was 5–0 as Dennis Snethen had to leave the meeting at approximately 6:40 p.m.
The Board also voted Thursday to terminate Rick Hartigan as Chief Operating Officer effective immediately with a vote of 6-0.
Hartigan was placed on paid administrative leave by the board last month. Hartigan has been with the district for more than 25-years.
Last week the board voted to terminate St. Joseph School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Czerwonka after he had worked for the district for just a year and a half.
Dan Colgan was absent from both meetings.
As these are personnel matters, the Board of Education said it will have no further comment.
(Missourinet) – Clayton police are investigating the death of Missouri auditor and candidate for governor Tom Schweich as an apparent suicide. They were called to Schweich’s home shortly before 10 Thursday morning.
The campaign site for Tom Schweich’s campaign for governor has been replaced with this photo of his family and the message, “Please join with all Missourians in praying for Tom’s family, including his wife Kathy and children, Emilie and Thomas, Jr.”
“Everything we know at this time is that it is an apparent act at Mr. Schweich’s own hand and family is cooperating with our investigation,” Clayton Police Chief Kevin Murphy said in a press conference Thursday.
One thing Murphy said will be looked into is a possible motive, and what was happening leading up to the incident.
“Family and friends, we are talking to, and I want to make it clear that at this point everyone is cooperating with our investigation,” Murphy told reporters.
Murphy said at least one family member was in Schweich’s Clayton home with him when police were called. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that minutes before the shooting, Schweich had made phone calls to set up an interview to discuss his belief a top Republican party official was spreading false information about his religion.
“We do a thorough investigation, and that would include all information that we are told that we can develop through the course of our investigation, whatever that might give us,” Murphy said.
The Post-Dispatch reports Schweich believed Republican Party chairman John Hancock, elected last weekend, was saying Schweich is Jewish to hurt him politically in the gubernatorial primary race, as many Republican voters are evangelical Christians.
Hancock tells the Dispatch he had once thought Schweich was Jewish but denied saying so in a derogatory manner.
Schweich had reportedly planned to hold a press conference in Jefferson City this week to accuse Hancock of making an anti-Semitic remark and Hancock went to Jefferson City to be at that conference and present his side of the story. That conference never happened.
Schweich, 54, had two children with his wife Kathy.
Governor Jay Nixon (D) will appoint an auditor to fill out Schweich’s 4-year term, which began in January.
MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Sons of Brasil and their unique Brazilian jazz sound will be the next featured performers in Northwest Missouri State University’s Encore performance series. The sextet will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, in the Charles Johnson Theater.
Tickets may be purchased between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday at the Student Services Center on the first floor of the Administration Building or online at www.nwmissouri.edu/campusactivities/encore.htm.
The Sons of Brasil have become known for their compelling and dynamic rhythms, soaring melodies and lush harmonies while transcending age groups and musical tastes.
The musicians, who are natives of Kansas City, Mo., fell under the spell of Brazilian music and have assembled an impressive repertoire of music from virtually every region of Brazil. Founded by Stan Kessler, the group has been playing together for 23 years and includes Danny Embrey, Greg Whitfield, Doug Auwarter, Gary Helm and Roger Wilder.
Sons of Brasil. Photo Courtesy Northwest
The group uses a variety of instruments ranging from the trumpet and flugelhorn, to guitars and electric bass, percussion and keyboards, to create their unique sound.
For more information about The Sons of Brasil, including video clips, visit thesonsofbrasil.com.
For more information about the performance at Northwest or the Encore series, contact the Office of Campus Activities at660.562.1226 or oca@nwmissouri.edu.
National Weather Service Hazardous Weather Outlook for Northwest, North Central and West Central Missouri and well as Extreme Eastern Kansas.
TODAY AND TONIGHT
DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILL VALUES BETWEEN 5 AND 15 BELOW ZERO ARE
EXPECTED THIS MORNING.
SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY
SNOW IS EXPECTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY.
AT THIS TIME…SNOW TOTALS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE AREA WIDE.
7 Day Forecast
This Afternoon Mostly sunny, with a high near 18. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph.
Tonight Mostly cloudy, with a low around 11. Southeast wind around 7 mph.
Saturday Snow likely, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28. South southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Saturday Night Snow. Low around 25. South southeast wind 5 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Sunday Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 34. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Sunday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19.
Monday Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37.
Monday Night Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 33. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Tuesday Night A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 16. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday Partly sunny, with a high near 23.
Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 10.
The 29th annual Chili Cook-Off for United Cerebral Palsy to benefit children and adults with special needs in Northwest Missouri will take place Sunday at the St. Joseph Civic Arena.
The event will open to the public at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Civic Arena located at 4th and Felix St. in Downtown St. Joseph.
The cover band, the Licious Brothers, will perform their modern mix of hits all afternoon.
The annual event is a major fundraiser for the local United Cerebral Palsy chapter with 100% of the proceeds staying in Northwest Missouri to benefit children and adults with special needs.
60 contestants will cook chili and enter their special recipes into the challenge.
Judges will rate the samples on taste, palatability and appearance in a double blind test. The public can vote for their favorite team for the People’s Choice Award.
Chili samples from the contestants will be distributed to the public at 2:30pm, with the winners being announced later in the afternoon.
Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for children.
The silent auction has already begun online with a wide variety of items featured from MU tickets, Branson shows, and more.
