State v. Knight

Defendant appeals from a judgment and sentence of twenty-five years imprisonment upon conviction of murder in the second degree.

Defendant fatally shot one Mearle Hale with a 38-Special revolving pistol. The [331] homicide occurred at about two o'clock in the morning of July 15, 1944. Defendant was a police officer in the City of Sikeston; and Mearle Hale was a member of a street maintenance crew of seven employed by the city and then engaged in repainting the "parking lines" on pavements in the city. The work was being done under the supervision of Lawrence Ables, Street Commissioner.

Very…