Boonville’s DJ Wesolak charged after March incident
A Cooper County prosecutor has charged DJ Wesolak of first-degree harassment and four-degree assault.
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Boone County Commission votes to move courthouse murals to ‘secure location’
he Boone County Commission is set to meet Thursday and take action on murals in the Boone County Courthouse after lawyers called for them to be moved.
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Police find vehicles hit by gunfire at Jefferson City park
Officers found more than 16 spent casings after being sent at about 11 p.m. to McClung Park, the Jefferson City Police Department said in a news release. Police also found a .40-caliber handgun.
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Centralia mayor’s son ticketed for alleged misdemeanor assault against grocery store employee
Lt. Brian Leer said deputies issued a summons to Chad Cox, son of Mayor Chris Cox, for fourth-degree assault after a person said Cox confronted the Prenger Foods employee. The confrontation was allegedly over comments the person made to local media about turnover in the police department. The sheriff’s department was called to investigate to avoid any conflicts of interest, Leer said.
Continue Reading Jefferson City man accused of fake active shooter call
Jefferson City police responded to a report of an active shooter situation at apartment buildings Thursday at 8:49 a.m. after a caller alleged a shooter.
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Catholic bishops urge Missouri leaders to end executions
By JIM SALTER Associated Press Leaders of the four Roman Catholic dioceses in Missouri are urging state leaders to end the use of the death penalty, after a convicted killer of three was executed despite a request for clemency from the pope. Ernest Johnson was executed Tuesday evening, the first Missouri execution in 16 months
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Auxvasse man sentenced to jail after repeatedly calling 9-1-1
An Auxvasse man was sentenced to 175 days in county jail after being found guilty of five charges after repeatedly calling 9-1-1.
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Kingdom City man pleads guilty to child molestation
A Kingdom City man has pleaded guilty to fourth-degree child molestation after admitting to touching a 14-year-old in a car.
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QUESTION OF THE DAY: Was justice served in the Ernest Johnson case?
Johnson had been convicted of the 1994 murders of Fred Jones, Mary Bratcher and Mable Scruggs in Columbia and had awaited execution for about 25 years.
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No charges in deadly south Columbia officer-involved shooting
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A special prosecutor will not file charges against three Columbia police officers involved in a deadly shooting. According to the Columbia Police Department, Callaway County Prosecutor Christopher D. Wilson told the Missouri State Highway Patrol in a letter on Oct. 1 the officers acted lawfully in their use of deadly force. Special
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State executes Ernest Lee Johnson for Columbia triple murder; state releases last offender statement
The state executed Ernest Lee Johnson on Tuesday, 25 years after he killed three gas station workers and following a last-ditch effort by his lawyers to save him, The Associated Press reported.
Continue Reading Rallies, vigils hope to stop Ernest Lee Johnson execution
Johnson is set to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at a state prison in Bonne Terre for the 1994 murders of Mary Bratcher, Fred Jones and Mable Scruggs at a Columbia gas station.
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WATCH: Savannah Guthrie reports on Ernest Lee Johnson murders in 1994
These videos pulled from the ABC 17 News archive show the station’s original reporting in the aftermath of a 1994 triple murder at a Casey’s gas station.
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Two Columbia liquor stores robbed Monday night
The first one hit was the new Arena Wine and Spirits at 515 S. Scott Blvd. at about 9:40 p.m. The second robbery happened at 10:25 p.m. at Arena Liquor, 208 Corporate Lake Drive.
Continue Reading Convicted Columbia murderer Ernest Lee Johnson set to be executed Tuesday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Convicted Columbia murderer Ernest Lee Johnson is set to be executed Tuesday night in Bonne Terre, Missouri. Johnson was convicted of a triple murder at Casey’s General Store along Rice Road in Columbia in 1995. In February of 1994, Johnson robbed the convenience store after using drugs and hit, shot, and stabbed
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Former CPD officer recounts murders 27 years later as governor confirms plans to execute Ernest Johnson
Randy Boehm, a former Columbia police officer and chief, arrived at the Columbia Casey’s General Store 27 years ago, the morning after the horrific murders of three of the store’s employees.
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Man charged with multiple crimes after alleged Jefferson City bomb threat
A Cole County prosecutor has charged a Minnesota man with multiple crimes after a Saturday morning incident where he allegedly had a bomb and was trying to get money he was owed.
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Woman charged after allegedly setting cross on fire in Jefferson City church
A Cole County prosecutor has charged a woman after she allegedly broke into a church, stole money, a musical instrument and a computer then set a cross on fire on June 1.
Continue Reading Lawmakers, pope ask Missouri governor to halt execution
By JIM SALTER Associated Press Pope Francis has joined the chorus of people calling on Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grant clemency to a death row inmate who is set to be executed for killing three people during a 1994 convenience store robbery. Ernest Johnson is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday
Continue Reading A timeline of events in the Ernest Lee Johnson case
Ernest Lee Johnson’s path from a Casey’s General Store in northeast Columbia to an execution room in the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Center in Bonne Terre took 27 years to travel.
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