Charges of first-degree murder have been dismissed against a 16-year-old teen accused of killing his grandparents.

16-year-old Joseph Johnson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder or second-degree in the alternative last week after being certified to stand trial as an adult. Johnson is accused of shooting his grandparents James and Beverly Johnson who he lived with.

The Buchanan County Prosecutor’s office announced Friday that the office has agreed to dismiss the charge of murder in the first degree and to offer Johnson the opportunity to plead without sentencing recommendations to two counts of murder in the second degree. The plea was part of a statement made in court Friday by Johnson’s attorney and stated that the prosecutor’s office has also agreed not to file additional charges while the offer is outstanding.

The plea deal comes after a Johnson appeared in court for a preliminary hearing Friday and waived his rights to the hearing.

According to Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins the U.S. Supreme Court does not allow for the death penalty to be sought for a juvenile even after being certified as an adult.  Also, Scorggins said the law requires cases involving a juvenile to have alternative sentences including life with the possibility of parole.  First-Degree murder only offers the option of the death penalty or life without parole.

Second-degree murder offers several alternatives including life with the possibility of parole.

In court documents officials say Johnson was stopped in Platte County for invalid plates displayed on his grandfather’s car. According to the affidavit, officials learned the suspect told an acquaintance on the phone he believed he had murdered his grandparents. Both were subsequently found fatally shot at their home at 8610 Hurlingen Road.

In the court affidavit, Lieutenant Collie said the defendant had approximately $600 on him, along with extra clothes, and a credit card belonging to his grandparents, and was carrying directions to Louisville Kentucky with him when he was arrested. He was just 30 to 40 minutes away from the crime scene when he was stopped.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – For the past few weeks, the 5,000 motorists who use U.S. Route 59 south of St. Joseph each day, had to find a different route to reach their destination.

What was originally planned as a 30-day closure to tie the new, wider, safer Bankers Crossing Bridge into the existing roadway had to be extended due to weather. The road has been closed since Monday, July 13. Contractors plan to open the new Bankers Crossing Bridge to all traffic later this evening.

The bridge replacement project began earlier this year as contractors built a new, wider bridge alongside the old bridge, which was built in 1936, was only 24-feed wide with no shoulders, was structurally deficient, and had limited sight distance due to the curve of the roadway. The new bridge is wider, has added shoulders for safety, and realigns the roadway.

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.

The country’s largest theater chain is now searching bags and purses of its customers after two separate movie theater attacks this summer.

Regal Cinemas has started checking bags at all of its theaters, including those in St Joseph.

The move comes amid a larger debate about safety measures that has provoked calls for metal detectors and armed guards. According to the Hollywood newspaper Variety, most major exhibitors have not followed suit. National Amusements has banned backpacks in its theaters.

On its website, Regal acknowledged that the move could inconvenience some customers but said in a statement: “Security issues have become a daily part of our lives in America. Regal Entertainment Group wants our customers and staff to feel comfortable and safe when visiting or working in our theatres.”

Officials at the St Joseph facility confirm they are observing the national policy to check patrons’ bags.

 

A former Caldwell County Deputy convicted for stealing prescription medications and cash from the evidence vault is facing a new drug charge.

29-year-old Brett O’Dell of St. Joseph was charged Sunday in DeKalb County with a felony for possession of a controlled substance.

Deputy Kyle Schmitz with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in court documents that on Sunday around 1 a.m. he saw a Toyota sedan traveling westbound on 36 highway.

“As the vehicle past through my headlights I observed it to have a large amount of grass dragging the roadway,” Schmitz. “I observed the front drivers side tire to be flat and omitting sparks from the wheel on the roadway.”

Schmitz said he stopped the vehicle and saw that the rear bumper was missing and the front bumper was dragging the roadway and that the driver’s side wheel was bent.

“I advised him the reason for the stop, Mr. O’Dell gave a blank stare and responded, ‘really I didn’t know,'” Schmitz said.

Schmitz said he advised O’Dell he would have to check him for weapons before seating him in his patrol vehicle.

“Mr. O’Dell complied stating, ‘I was a cop I understand no problem,” Schmitz said.

After a search Schmitz said he found a soft case containing two cut down straws and a clear plastic baggy containing a white residue commonly used to transport illegal drugs.  The white residue tested positive for methamphetamine.

“I advised Mr. O’Dell you used to be a cop then you know what happens next,” Schmitz said.

After searching the vehicle Schmitz located a glass pipe and a ink pen with no cartridge both containing white residue.

“Mr. O’Dell admitted to smoking methamphetamine prior to driving.  He stated he thought he ran over a semi tire and ran off the roadway,” Schmitz said. “While in my vehicle Mr. O’Dell stated he was unsure what he hit but was certain he ran into the center median of 36 Highway near Osborn.  Mr. O’Dell stated his car was in good condition when he left this morning and he was uncertain how it got in the shape it was in at the time of the stop.”

In March of 2014 O’Dell was charged with stealing prescription drugs and around $5,000 in cash from the Caldwell County Evidence vault. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of five years supervised probation.

Previously, O’Dell had contacted the Post to talk about his addiction and the former case.  O’Dell had said he was working to stay clean.

He is currently being held on $25,000 bond in the Daviess/DeKalb Regional Jail.  A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 8

(Missourinet) – The Missouri Supreme Court has stricken down ordinances governing red-light cameras.

The high court says the way Kansas City, St. Louis and other cities had been handling red-light camera tickets conflicted with state law and is invalid. The Supreme Court didn’t rule specifically on the legality of the cameras themselves, leaving open the possibility that municipalities can enact red-light camera ordinances that will withstand future legal challenges.

St. Joseph suspended its red-light camera program when the conflicting appeals court rulings arose.

Some Missouri cities argued that the red light cameras improved public safety and critics said the city programs don’t follow state law.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the city of St. Louis announced that it has stopped issuing red-light tickets and dismissed all pending cases. People who paid such tickets in the past year-and-a-half can expect refunds. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay supports traffic cameras as a deterrent and is working on an ordinance that will comply with the court’s rulings.

A red light program began in Kansas City in 2009, but the city suspended use of cameras for traffic violations in November 2013, to receive clarity from the Missouri Supreme Court. Kansas City’s ordinance treated red-light camera violations like a parking ticket and assessed no points.

An effort to put a measure on the August 2016 ballot to ban red-light cameras in Missouri was voted down in this year’s legislative session.

(Missourinet with Post contributions)

A painting put up for auction on eBay by the St Joseph School District prompted a bid of $5,000 as the auction concluded shortly after 6am Wednesday.  The district will more than triple the money paid for the controversial artwork.

The Web site shows 38 bids.

The high bid was $5,000.  That’s more than three times the amount paid.  It also matches the predictions of several folks in St Joseph.

The painting was included among the school district’s former Chief Operating Officer Rick Hartigan’s new furnishings for his office.  That didn’t sit well with the State Auditor’s Office, which suggested the purchase “appeared unreasonable.”

The description supplied for the auction notes that if you’re the buyer you will get “more than just a Thomas Kinkade painting, you are also purchasing a piece of St. Joseph, MO history.”

“Originally purchased for executive office decoration, the painting was identified in the 2015 Missouri State Audit Report as an item that “appears unreasonable and/or does not appear to benefit the school district.”  Proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to the St. Joseph School District. – Certificate of Limitation & Authenticity along with descriptive owner’s manual included.”

The auction closed shortly after 6am Wednesday. (click here)

 

 

A former Buchanan County Jail Detention Officer found himself behind bars after being accused of trying to engage in sexual activity with a minor.

34-year-old Patrick M. Symington of St. Joseph was charged Friday in Buchanan County with a felony for enticement of a child.

Court documents state that Symington contacted a 14-year-old girl via Facebook instant messenger sometime between July 1 and 10 and requested that she travel to his home in the 600 block of Shady to engage in sexual conduct.

“A day prior to the contact via Facebook.com’s Instant Messanger with the juvenile child Mr. Symington made personal physical contact with the victim by grabbing her buttocks and making lurid graphic request for her to engage in sexual contact with him,” Thomas Cates said in the probable cause statement.

Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong said Symington is no longer employed with the county but did not go into further details.

Symington is out on $10,000 bond.

He was scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment Tuesday morning.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ONGOING THIS MORNING ACROSS NORTHWEST MISSOURI
 AND EASTERN KANSAS...THOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED THIS
 MORNING. STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING MAY BE ACCOMPANIED
 BY SEVERE WEATHER. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE PRIMARY
 THREATS...THOUGH TORRENTIAL RAIN COULD ALSO BE A PROBLEM.

Today
Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 5pm. High near 78. Breezy, with a southwest wind 8 to 13 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Tonight
A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. South southwest wind 11 to 15 mph becoming west northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday
Isolated showers before 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. West northwest wind 13 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Wednesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 52. West northwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming light and variable.

Thursday
Sunny, with a high near 81. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph.

Thursday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 60.

Friday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.

Friday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Saturday
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Saturday Night
Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday
Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly clear, with a low around 54. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday
Sunny, with a high near 80.