Thread: IA to face trial in shooting death at MO. swimming hole

Man to face trial in shooting death at popular Missouri swimming hole
BY JULIE STEWART SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Posted on Sunday, August 17, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Mo. — A man accused of killing an Arkansan at a popular swimming hole will face a murder charge, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Jesus Sesena-Murrieta, 27, will be bound over for trial in Ozark County Circuit Court on felony charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action, Associate Division Circuit Judge John Jacobs ruled at the close of a nearly threehour hearing.

Jacobs rejected a defense motion for bail for Sesena-Murrieta, who has been held in the Ozark County jail since the July 20 shooting death of Alonzo M. Foster Jr., 22, of Ash Flat.

Foster was shot four times at the swimming hole on private property on Lick Creek, a few miles north of the Arkansas state line.

Security was extremely tight for the hearing, with more than 20 uniformed and plainclothes officers inside and outside the courthouse in the county seat of Gainesville, which has 632 residents.

Ozark County Sheriff Raymond Pace said his office had received information about death threats against Sesena-Murrieta, prompting the increased security.

Spectators passed through two security checkpoints, where officers used hand-held metal detectors, before entering the second-floor courtroom.

Several members of the Howell County, Mo., SWAT team were stationed inside the courtroom, including three officers carrying automatic weapons.

At least three dozen relatives and friends of the victim packed the courtroom.

“If there were any threats made, they didn’t come from us,â€

Judge relocates Ozark County murder case
News-Leader staff • October 7, 2008

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The case of a Gainesville man accused of killing another man in a trespassing dispute will be tried outside of Ozark County, a judge ruled Monday.

Though Jesus Sesena-Murrieta allegedly killed Alonzo Foster Jr. in the county, the case has been transferred to a Laclede County court.

The decision came nearly a month after attorneys for Sesena-Murrieta filed for a change of venue, saying the defendant’s life had been threatened in the wake of his arrest.

Sesena-Murrieta, is accused of killing Foster, a Mountain Home, Ark., resident, on July 20.

Authorities said Foster and his family had gathered on Sesena-Murrieta's mother-in-law’s property, and the defendant told the group to leave.

The altercation that followed ended with Sesena-Murrieta shooting Foster four times, Ozark County Sheriff Raymond Pace said.

Sesena-Murrieta, allegedly an illegal immigrant, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. After he was charged, Springfield area news agencies reported the incident.

On Sept. 10, Springfield attorney Dee Wampler filed a change of venue motion in the case, asking it be moved “far outside the southwest Missouri media area.â€

Might be a little off topic here but one of my favorite movies is "hang em high".

ARRA News Service - Sept 9 Update: It has been over a year and Jesus Sesena-Murrieta is still being held on a charge of murder in Ozark County, MO. No record of a trial date in Laclede County, MO was located or identified by sources. Based on conversations with various sources, the case [Case# 08LA-CR01437-01] was officially transferred to Laclede County. Various pre-trial legal correspondence have occurred. But no records were identified. The defendant remains housed in Ozark County Jail because it is cheaper to house him in Ozark County than in Laclede County.
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