State v. Beckemeyer

STOCKARD, Commissioner.

Defendant, charged under the habitual criminal act, was found guilty by a jury of burglary, second degree. The trial court assessed his punishment at seven years imprisonment.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to sustain his motion for a directed verdict at the close of the evidence “because the state failed to prove the defendant broke and entered the premises with the intent to commit a felony or to steal.”

On the evening of December 25, 1966, Robert Burton closed his confectionery store at 1051 Allen Avenue in St. Louis and locked both the front…