Criminal Trials

Walmart Improperly Dumped Hazardous Waste in Missouri, Must Pay $82 Million

Officials with Walmart pleaded guilty this week to mishandling hazardous materials at retail stores in Missouri and California -- and as a result will have to pay a total of more than $110 million in fines to resolve these cases. The company, authorities say, violated a slew of federal and state env ... More >>

Sext Fiend: Jovica Petrovic tried to embarrass his ex-wife to death, and revenge porn was the name of the game

Belleville Martial Arts Instructor Accused of Sexually Exploiting Kids, Filming the Abuse

Christopher Horton, a twenty-year-old Belleville martial-arts instructor, is accused of sexually exploiting three minors -- ages six, eight and ten -- and filming the abuse. A new complaint against Horton says that he confessed to the sexual assault and attempted to get a fourth minor to engage in s ... More >>

Donrico Holmes ID'd by Police as Suspect In Sex Assault on Three Girls

Donrico Holmes, 32, has been charged in connection with the armed robbery and sexual assault of three girls ages 12 to 17 on July 23. Holmes is not in custody at this time, however; police released this mugshot from a prior arrest. At the time of the alleged assault, Holmes had short braids, as seen ... More >>

Daniel Fuller: Returned Video Recorder With Alarming Footage, Now Faces Charges

Daniel Fuller, 46, of Pevely, Missouri, allegedly purchased a video recording device from a retailer headquartered in Nebraska, and then later returned it. Anybody who's ever worked in retail will tell you that when a recording device leaves the store and is then brought back, employees quickly chec ... More >>

Drug-Induced Homicide Charges Dropped Against RFT Profile Subject, Angela Halliday

Madison County prosecutors have dropped murder charges against Angela Halliday, a heroin junkie who had been accused of facilitating the deaths of an acquaintance and her boyfriend. The decision to drop the charges came after Judge James Hackett, who was to hear Halliday's case, stopped the trial of ... More >>

Marcus Kilcrease Charged with Multiple Counts of Child Abuse

The 20-month-old daughter of Marcus Kilcrease's girlfriend was taken to the hospital because she supposedly fell out of bed while he was caring for her at the couple's home in the 1800 block of North 20th Street. Doctors found that the girl had serious injuries to her brain, ribs and liver, and susp ... More >>

Eric Lawson: Police Say Man Shot Breiana Ray and Her Mother, Then Set Fatal Fire

A Saturday night apartment fire in the 2100 block of South Jefferson Avenue was allegedly set by Eric Lawson, 23, the ex-boyfriend of Breiana Ray, 22. Ray and her mother, Gwendolyn Ray, 50, were found in the burning building by firefighters, dead of gunshot wounds. Breiana Ray's son by Lawson, ten-m ... More >>

Angela Halliday Case Gears up for Potential Trial

Last August we published a feature article titled Smackdown, chronicling the downfall of Angela Halliday, a former dean's list student who became addicted to heroin. After the overdose deaths of an acquaintance and, a month later, her boyfriend, Madison County, Illinois, prosecutors charged her with ... More >>

Shattermask Lead Singer Brian Dotson Wanted for Five Counts of Statutory Rape and Sodomy [Update]

Update: Per St. Louis Crimestoppers, Brian Dotson was arrested last night without incident. Adds Crimestoppers, "Thanks to all our callers. The response to this was great." You don't say... Update: According to the probable cause statement obtained by RFT Music from the Jefferson County Prosecutor' ... More >>

Vicious Cycle: Dorian Williams thought he was a bike champion, shrinks and FBI be damned

Scott Solovic: Thrice Convicted of Raping Children, Contends Current Accuser is "Too Young" for Him

​Scott Solovic, 38, is currently serving his third stint in jail for sexually assaulting underage girls. A fourth victim of his depredations came forward only after he was sentenced to prison this most recent time, because she felt she was safe enough to do so with him out of her life. Authorities ... More >>

Brent Woody: Former Parkway Central Coach Gets 12 Years for Child Sex Charges

​Brent Woody, the one-time substitute teacher and freshman girls basketball coach at Parkway Central High School, pleaded guilty in October to charges of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. Yesterday he was sentenced to 151 months in federal pris ... More >>

When federal investigators busted Jeffrey Greenwell outside St. Louis, they hit the kiddie-porn jackpot

Lost Boy Child Pornography Case: Court Documents

​The Los Angeles-led FBI investigation into the online child pornography group known as "Lost Boy" resulted in the indictments of 19 Americans and fourteen defendants abroad. The men were charged collectively for running a child exploitation enterprise, among other crimes. The investigation, a ... More >>

Why A Guy Named "Woody" Should Not Coach Girls Basketball

​Brent Woody, a former freshmen girls basketball coach at Parkway Central, pleaded guilty today in federal court to transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity.According to court documents, Coach Woody drove the 15-year-old girl to his parent's residence in Illinois with t ... More >>

"The Most Famous Story Most Americans Have Never Heard": J. Frank Norris, The Shooting Salvationist

​On July 17, 1926, J. Frank Norris, the most famous preacher in America and de facto leader of the burgeoning fundamentalist movement, shot and killed an unarmed man in his private office in his megachurch in Fort Worth, Texas. The subsequent trial captivated the nation, especially after it ex ... More >>

Kendall White: Charged in Murder of Andre Hathaway, Man Found Floating in Creek

Kendall White has a list of priors beginning when he was a teenager.​St. Louis police have arrested a man for the murder earlier this summer of 28-year-old Andre Hathaway. Police found Hathaway's body floating in Moline Creek in north St. Louis on June 8. An autopsy revealed that he had died from ... More >>

LaRon Williams: St. Louis Man Guilty of Kidnapping, Terrorizing Girlfriend

courtesy of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police DepartmentLaRon Wiliams: Previously convicted of bribery, he was found guilty of kidnapping in a trial last week.​At St. Louis jury found LaRon Williams, 33, guilty last week of kidnapping, domestic assault and armed criminal action after a brutal atta ... More >>

For Sex Crimes, the Boundary Between City and County Dissolves

​There are several excuses that won't fly in circuit court during child-molestation trials. "She looked like she could have been 18," for instance, is never a good defense. Thanks to a Missouri Supreme Court ruling handed down yesterday, you can add another bad excuse to the list: "But I comm ... More >>

Christopher Seemayer: Brentwood City Administrator Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Casino Queen, my Lord you're mean; I've been gambling like a fiend on your tables so green. -- Wilco​It seems the former city administrator for Brentwood had been living the life of an (alt.) country song. And now his tawdry and high-rollin' ways finally caught up to him. Christopher Seemayer, Bre ... More >>

Jimmy Tebeau's Lawyer Vows "Vigorous Defense"

Jimmy Tebeau is being charged under a statute normally used to target crack houses, his lawyer says.​We touched base this morning with Scott Rosenblum, widely thought to be one of the best criminal defense lawyers in St. Louis -- and, not so coincidentally, the guy representing Jimmy Tebeau.Tebeau ... More >>

Carlos Boles: Felon Who Killed U.S. Marshal Had Lengthy Rap Sheet

Fox 2Carlos Boles​As you've likely heard by now, one of the U.S. marshals shot yesterday while trying to arrest a suspect yesterday in St. Louis on drug and assault charges is now dead. John Perry, 48, succumbed to a bullet wound around 7 p.m. Tuesday at Saint Louis University Hospital. Another ma ... More >>

Vernon Collins: Suspect Charge With Wrestling Gun From St. Louis Cop, Shooting Him

Collins: Suspect has a lengthy rap sheet.​A St. Louis police officer is home recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg and another victim remains hospitalized with stab wounds after a disturbance early this morning in north St. Louis. According to St. Louis police, an officer responded to the 520 ... More >>

Kenneth Tomlinson: Former Police Chief and Boy Scout Leader Now a Child Molester

​Kenneth Tomlinson has pleaded guilty to 22 counts of sexual abuse of minors all during the time that he served as police captain of Fredericktown and a Boy Scout leader in the southeastern Missouri town. In January, Tomlinson was charged with a dozen counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and fo ... More >>

Grinding Justice: Operation Streamline costs millions, tramples the Constitution and doesn't work

Ronald Little: Racks Up a Lot of Sex Charges -- 116 of Them to Be Precise

He may be Little, but his case file ain't.​Last month Daily RFT reported on the arrest of 63-year-old Ronald Little on charges that for years he'd sexually assaulted a female relative who's now just 14 years old. At the time, police suspected that there may have been other victims as well. Yesterd ... More >>

Witnesses Testify to Seeing Kevin Sanders Jr. Shot to Death, But Which to Believe?

Two stories, one stand.​Which eye witness to believe? The father of a murdered child or a neighbor subpoenaed to appear before the court to provide testimony? That's what a St. Louis jury will be weighing as early as today as it deliberates in the trial of 18-year-old Darryl Moore, charged with ki ... More >>

Illinois Trooper Gets 30 Months Probation for Reckless Homicide of Two Teens

Updated 5:12 p.m.Image via​Daily RFT received an e-mail response from Kimberly Schlau regarding the guilty plea of Matt Mitchell."We are hopeful that this conviction sends a message not only to all first responders and law enforcement officers, but to all drivers: please slow down, pay attention ... More >>

Man Pleads Guilty for Trying to Have Sex with Minor in Front of Judge

The headline above, what does it imply? 1. A man tried to commit a heinous act in the presence of a judge, or2. A man pleaded guilty to a judge for attempting to commit a heinous act.Mmm, judgy likey.​If you answered No. 1, you'd be correct -- grammatically speaking. Of course, most criminals woul ... More >>

St. Louis Jailer Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Drugs into City Justice Center

St. Louis Justice Center on Tucker Boulevard​James Lamont Moore has pleaded guilty to charges of attempted distribution of heroin to inmates at the St. Louis City Justice Center.Moore was one of three jailers indicted back in June in a plot to funnel drugs into the justice center. Between January ... More >>

Did This Mother Poison her Son for Attention?

Google "Alerts" Herald Really Important News, like today's, "Man With Workout-Ball-Slashing Fetish Charged"

Every once in awhile Google's and Yahoo's "alert" e-mails bring Unreal a nugget of can't-live-without news, like an announcement of a gigantic bible-eating & pie-beating convention at America's Center, or the publication of a book about how not to make sex with your mother-in-law really awkward. ... More >>

South City Real Estate Swinder Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Robert Douglas Hartmann pleaded guilty to bank and mail fraud charges stemming from his now defunct real-estate firm DHP Investments, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway announced today.Hartmann's DHP Investments was once involved in the rehab of hundreds of homes and buildings in the metro area -- part ... More >>

Michael Devlin Charged With Attempted Murder

The Split from Hell

Vinson v. Vinson: It'll be a cold day in Hades before you see another divorce trial this bizarre

Life After Death Row

From maximum security in Potosi to a bungalow in Maplewood: The odyssey of Rabbit, a.k.a. Robert Driscoll

A Shot in the Arm

A federal appeals court says Darryl Burton might very well be innocent of the 1984 murder of Donald Ball. But there's nothing they can do about it.

Man Killer

Did Patty Prewitt pump two bullets into her husband's head? It is a mystery that has lingered for twenty years.

For the Defense

Terry Niehoff, one of the city's top criminal-defense lawyers, makes his money the old-fashioned way -- he earns it, one client at a time

Serial Tiller

When it comes to ripping people off, John Tiller and the Civil Rights Legal Defense Team just keep going and going

So Long, Joe

While Joe Amrine waits to die, Missouri courts won't admit they may be wrong

Losing the Battle and the War

Were the Jack in the Box killings a crime or just sloppy police work in the name of the war on drugs?

Best Judge (If You're Michael Lazaroff)

Charles Shaw

Unsettled

The only person likely to pay for killing LaTanya Mickles-Hamlin is the guy who named the alleged triggerman

Hard Luck, Hard Time

Donald Thweatt was once ready to fight for his country. Now he's fighting for his freedom.

What about Bob?

Drug courts save lives and save money. That's not good enough for St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch.

ON THE HOT SEAT

A former prosecutor and a former police investigator explain their actions in the Ellen Reasonover case 16 years ago. Their accounts don't square.

Burned

Ellen Reasonover has served 16 years of a life sentence for murder. But new evidence -- a secret tape and a forgotten memo -- suggests that the prosecution may have committed the real crime.

Presumed Guilty

Luciano Silveira and Michele Wioskowski were convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old girl. But there's a lot the jury never heard.