Laclede County

LACLEDE COUNTY -- An accident in Laclede County has claimed a woman's life. Troopers say Donna Lamkins was driving east of Philipsburg Saturday night when another pickup hit hers.       The 67-year-old was killed on impact.   The other driver was not seriously injured

LEBANON, Mo.-- A car crash late Saturday night killed a woman and injured a man.  The crash was a mile north of Lebanon on Highway YY. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Amanda Barrett, 32, died at the scene.  She was a passenger in a car driven by Matthew Burgess, 29, of Lebanon.  John Burgess, 32, of Lebanon, another passenger, is seriously injured and was flown to a hospital in Springfield.  Matthew Burgess was not hurt.  ...

The jury trial for one of the four men accused of a brutal triple murder in Laclede County begins Monday. Steven Pyykola's trial is being held in Morgan County on a change of venue.  Pyykola, along with Josh Reyes, Jacky Wong, and Benjamin Stidham are charged with first degree murder in the shooting deaths of Jeff and Glenda Smith of Phillipsburg and Zack Porter of Lebanon in October 2009. Josh Reyes pleaded guilty to his part in the murders last May.

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo -- A man has 17 stitches on one of his hands after his neighbor's dogs attacked him.  The dog's owner is in jail and charged with second-degree assault. It all started when John Terry went to get his mail on Sunday.  Terry says his neighbor was hiding out in the brush across the street and accused him of trespassing. "I don't go over there; I don't even want to go over there," said Terry. Terry says that's when his neighbor, Christopher Schroeder, threw a wood post at him.   After that, Terry adds, Schroeder sicced his two dogs on him. "The dogs had me down right out here in the road.  My son was up there in the yard, so I hollered for him when the dogs had me down; I couldn't get away," said Terry.

LACLEDE COUNTY -- A man was stabbed multiple times early Saturday morning at a home just ouside Lebanon, that's according to Sheriff Richard Wrinkle. It happened just after two this morning. The sheriff said the victim is listed in serious, but stable condition, after under going surgery at a Springfield hospital.   Sheriff Wrinkle says they do have a person of interest, and are looking for the suspect.

CONWAY, Mo. -- The right lane of westbound I-44 at mile marker 113 in Laclede County was closed for a few hours early Friday.  The Missouri State Highway Patrol says a truck ran off the right side of the highway and struck the supports on the overpass about 2:40 a.m. A tow truck moved the truck to the side of the interstate after it was freed.  An ambulance took the driver, Rodger Allen, 37, of Springfield, and a passenger, Daniel Arthur, 23,...

LEBANON, Mo. -- Court documents show oral arguments are scheduled for January in the Appeals Court case for a convicted killer, Horst Sabla.  He was found guilty in April of last year for the shooting death of his wife, Sharon, in 2008.  Her body was found encased in concrete next to a road in rural Laclede County. Sabla's next court appearance is set for mid-January.

LYNCHBURG, Mo. -- A crash between a car and a Plato School District bus killed the car's driver on Friday morning. She was Stella Burden, 53, of Falcon. The crash happened just after 7 near the intersection of Missouri 32 at Missouri 95 near Lynchburg.  No students were on the bus, and the driver is okay. Missouri State Highway Patol investigators believe the driver of the car hit a slick spot on the road; the car crossed the centerline and was broadsided by the bus.

LEBANON, Mo. -- A judge says Steven Pyykola will stand trial in Versailles before a Morgan County jury in September of next year.  Pyykola's trial was moved from Laclede County to try to ensure a fair outcome. Pyykola and three others were each charged with three counts of first-degree murder after investigators say they killed a woman's parents and then her live-in boyfriend.  In October 2009, detectives say, the four men shot and killed Zachary (Zack) Porter in Lebanon and Jeffrey and Glenda Smith at their rural home near Phillipsburg.

LEBANON, Mo. -- Laclede County health officials are checking into a possible case of West Nile virus.  Public Health Administrator Charla Baker says the county health department learned of the case through routine communicable disease reports from healthcare providers.  She says it's a possible case of West Nile virus, but lab tests would have to provide confirmation.  It could be a number of days before those results come back.  Baker says...

LEBANON, Mo. - The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced the arrests of more than a dozen Laclede County residents as they wrapped up a two-year investigation into a narcotics ring Thursday. The Highway Patrol says state troopers, members of the Lake Area Narcotic Enforcement Group and Laclede County Sheriff's Department investigated 34 people in and around Laclede County and obtained warrants for them. The investigations centered on possession, distribution and sale of several drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana and prescription medication.

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. - Sentencing has been delayed again for one of four men involved in a grisly triple-murder in Laclede County. Jacky Wong pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder. His sentencing was supposed to be today, but for the third time, it has been postponed. It's now scheduled for April 1. Prosecutors say Wong and three other men shot and killed Jeffrey and Glenda Smith at their home near Phillipsburg in 2009. The group then shot the boyfriend of the couple's daughter.

CONWAY, Mo. -- The right lane of westbound I-44 at mile marker 113 in Laclede County was closed for a few hours early Friday.  The Missouri State Highway Patrol says a truck ran off the right side of the highway and struck the supports on the overpass about 2:40 a.m. A tow truck moved the truck to the side of the interstate after it was freed.  An ambulance took the driver, Rodger Allen, 37, of Springfield, and a passenger, Daniel Arthur, 23,...

LEBANON, Mo. -- Joe Early and his wife Rebecca have five children, ages 10, 8, 6, 2, and 9 months.  The two met when they were young and were married by age 18.  That was 10 years ago.   They have never had a lot but, up until recently, they had always had enough. "To give them a stable household was our thing a stable household with parents that loves them, that was our goal," said Joe Early, an unemployed father of five. After Early lost his job, bills started to pile up and making rent payments became difficult.

LACLEDE COUNTY -- A man was stabbed multiple times early Saturday morning at a home just ouside Lebanon, that's according to Sheriff Richard Wrinkle. It happened just after two this morning. The sheriff said the victim is listed in serious, but stable condition, after under going surgery at a Springfield hospital.   Sheriff Wrinkle says they do have a person of interest, and are looking for the suspect.

VERSAILLES, Mo. -- A man from Springfield who is convicted for three murders in Laclede County likely will spend the rest of his life behind bars.   Steven Pyykola, 24, was sentenced on Thursday in Morgan County, where the case was moved to try to ensure a fair outcome. Pyykola was convicted for his part in the murders of Jeffrey and Glenda Smith at  their home near Phillipsburg, as well as Zachary Porter at an apartment in Lebanon in 2009.  Pyykola was also convicted of armed criminal action and burglary.

VERSAILLES, Mo. -- A jury found Steven Pyykola guilty on Friday afternoon for a killing spree resulting from a domestic dispute in Laclede County three years ago.  A judge scheduled sentencing for Nov. 15 for the man from Springfield for three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of armed criminal action. Prosecutors and investigators say Pyykola, 21, and three others plotted and prepared for two weeks and then killed Miranda Smith's boyfriend, father and stepmother in October 2009.  Prosecutors told the jury here, where the case was moved from Laclede County, that Pyykola is the one who fired the fatal shots.  The trial lasted all week.

LEBANON, Mo.--  Investigators say a series of brush fires in a southwest Missouri county may have been intentionally set. Four fires broke out in Laclede County on Thursday afternoon. All four were just a few miles apart from each other in a rural area, just southwest of Lebanon. Authorities say they're considering them suspicious because of their proximity to each other. More than 65 firefighters from 17 agencies responded to the blazes. One injury has been reported.  A woman who tried to help wound up needing help herself.

LEBANON, Mo. -- Laclede County health officials are checking into a possible case of West Nile virus.  Public Health Administrator Charla Baker says the county health department learned of the case through routine communicable disease reports from healthcare providers.  She says it's a possible case of West Nile virus, but lab tests would have to provide confirmation.  It could be a number of days before those results come back.  Baker says...

Camdenton MO -- A Falcon, Missouri, couple will be sentenced on September 11th for killing a disabled teenager with their cruelty. Robert and Ronda Shrout were convicted by a Camden County judge today of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 18-year old Aaron Johnson  in 2006.  Investigators say Johnson was locked in a bedroom with a broken window and weighed only 98-pounds when he died. Johnson was Mrs. Shrout's son. Prosecutors said the Shrouts didn't provide him with food, shelter, medical care, or heat during wintertime.