Kaser Murder Suspects Plead “Not Guilty”
By Echo Menges
According to court documents, the men accused of murdering Edina native, Carmilita Kaser, 92, in her Moberly home on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013, have plead “not guilty.”
Jeffrey Jay Nichols, 22, of Moberly and Christopher Demond Lewis, 18, of Macon stand accused of the murder. Each of the men are facing a capitol murder charge along with a slew of felony charges stemming from an Easter Sunday “crime spree.”
On Monday, May 20, 2013, both men appeared separately in Randolph County Circuit Court, along with their attorneys, before Judge Scott A. Hayes and entered “not guilty” pleas to 19 charges against each of them.
Both men are facing the following charges:
Murder 1st Degree Class A Felony – 1 count
Robbery 1st Degree Class A Felony – 4 counts
Assault 1st Degree Class A Felony – 3 counts
Assault 2nd Degree Class C Felony – 1 count
Burglary 1st Degree Class B Felony – 2 counts
Burglary 2nd Degree Class C Felony – 1 count
Armed Criminal Action Felony – 3 counts
Theft/Stealing Class C Felony – 1 count
Knowingly Burning or Exploding Class D Felony – 1 count
Tampering with a Motor Vehicle 1st Degree Class D Felony – 2 counts
Nichols is scheduled to be back in court on July 10, 2013, and Lewis will be back in court on June 20, 2013, in Randolph County Circuit Court before Judge Hayes.
The Edina Sentinel has made several requests for a statement from the Missouri Department of Corrections, which oversees the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole regarding the fact that Nichols was on parole and released from the Boone County Jail the same day as the murder of Mrs. Kaser and the slew of criminal activities for which he is accused of committing occurred. We also asked if the DOC was conducting an investigation into the matter along with several other inquiries.
So far they have not responded.
