The Jacque Waller case

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cedric Dean had just left Sunday services in the chapel of a Louisiana prison when a killer offered him a deal. Help me tell my story, fellow inmate Clay Waller said in the spring of 2013, and I'll pay you $10,000...

Jackson murderer James Clay Waller II was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday for a felony count of interstate domestic violence relating to the strangling and beating death of his estranged wife, Jacque Waller. The official sentencing came after Waller struck deal in October, in which he pleaded guilty to the domestic violence charge. It was announced at the time the deal would include the 35-year sentence. The sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 16, but the announcement came Tuesday...

Convicted murderer James Clay Waller II will serve a 35-year prison sentence on a federal charge stemming from the 2011 murder of his estranged wife under terms of a plea agreement, federal prosecutors said Thursday. If approved by the court, the sentence would run concurrent to a 20-year sentence he is serving after pleading guilty in state court in 2013 to second-degree murder in the death of estranged wife, Jacque Waller, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said...

Convicted murderer James Clay Waller II is expected to plead guilty today in federal court in St. Louis to a charge of committing interstate domestic violence in the death of his estranged wife, court records suggest. On Sept. 28, six days after the case was set for trial, U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig issued an order setting a change-of-plea hearing. It will be at 12:30 p.m...

Convicted murderer James Clay Waller II withdrew his pretrial motions Wednesday in federal court in Cape Girardeau, including motions to suppress evidence and dismiss the charge against him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Abbie Crites-Leoni accepted his decision, but only after repeatedly questioning Waller as to whether he understood the consequences of his decision...

Convicted in state court of murder, James Clay Waller II now will be tried in federal court "to protect citizens from a dangerous, sociopathic and narcissistic murderer," federal prosecutors said in a court filing this week. A prison manuscript in which Waller stated "killing my wife was a no-brainer" did not prompt the federal case but rather dissatisfaction with the outcome of the state case, prosecutors said...

Convicted murderer James Clay Waller II faces "double jeopardy" if he is tried on a federal charge stemming from the state case, his lawyer said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau. John Lynch, Waller's St. Louis-area lawyer, filed a motion late last week seeking to have the federal indictment dismissed on grounds of double jeopardy, violation of due process and failure to state an offense against the United States...

Federal Judge Abbie Crites-Leoni on Tuesday found James Clay Waller II, 46, of Cape Girardeau mentally competent to stand trial and participate in his defense. Waller’s attorney John Lynch, who has an office in Clayton, Missouri, filed the motion Aug. 17 for a mental evaluation for Waller. Two psychiatric reports were filed with the court Dec. 6. Neither assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Ferrell nor Lynch had an objection to the reports...

Clay Waller, 45, of Cape Girardeau appeared in federal court Tuesday in Cape Girardeau and pleaded not guilty to interstate domestic violence. Interstate domestic violence is part of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Federal prosecuting attorney Richard Callahan announced the indictment against Waller on Monday. The indictment alleges Waller crossed state lines to kill Jacque Sue Waller in 2011...

When Clay Waller was sentenced in 2013 to 20 years in prison, minus time served while waiting for trial, no one affiliated with the victim was particularly happy about it. A binding deal had been struck, with Jacque Waller's family's consent, that charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence would be reduced to second-degree murder. ...

Clay Waller supposedly was working on a book, and information contained in that manuscript is part of the evidence in the federal prosecutor's case that charges Waller with crossing state lines when he assaulted and killed his wife, Jacque Waller. According to the indictment in the case, the manuscript by Clay Waller is titled, "'If You Take My Kids, I'll Kill You!': The Public Confession of Missouri's Most Notorious Wife Killers."...

Confessed murderer Clay Waller may face more prison time, as federal prosecutors seek to prosecute Waller on federal charges. The United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced Monday "the unsealing" of an indictment, charging Waller, 45, with interstate domestic violence...

Convicted murderer Clay Waller was transferred Sunday by Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputies from a federal prison in Marianna, Florida, and is in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections to serve the remainder of a 20-year sentence...

Adoption of Jacque Waller's triplets by her family became official Tuesday. Jacque Waller was slain June 1, 2011, by her estranged husband, Clay Waller, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty earlier this year to murder charges. ...

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- A day for which so many who loved her waited so long for came and went Saturday when Jacque Sue Rawson Waller finally was laid to rest. Hundreds turned out for her visitation, funeral and burial in Park Hills, not far from where she grew up, lived and spent her last days with her then-5-year-old triplets before her death June 1, 2011...

Clay Waller still was being held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail in Jackson on Friday, but he will likely be transferred back into the custody of federal authorities sometime this week before he heads to state prison for his second-degree murder conviction in the death of his estranged wife, Jacque Waller, Sheriff John Jordan said...

The father of the one who was lost stood before a crowded room Thursday. "She thought she could control him," said Stan Rawson of his daughter, Jacque Waller. "It was a big mistake. She couldn't." During a news conference after the admission by Clay Waller that he killed his estranged wife, and a 20-year sentence was laid upon him, Jacque Waller's family and the teams of law enforcement who brought her murderer to justice recounted their experiences...

Without a plea deal that will see Clay Waller serve at least 85 percent of his 20-year prison sentence, his wife Jacque Waller's body never would have been found, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh said. Limbaugh, speaking at a news conference Thursday after a hearing in which Clay Waller pleaded guilty to killing Jacque Waller on June 1, 2011, said his office consulted with the family before making the deal. He also said Clay Waller will likely serve the entire sentence.

Clay Waller pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Waller originally had been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in connection with the June 1, 2011, disappearance of his estranged wife, Jacque Waller, whose body was found last week in Alexander County, Ill....

Jacque Waller's sister, and one of her triplets, raked Clay Waller over the coals after his admission of killing his wife Jacque Waller. At a Thursday hearing in which Clay Waller pleaded guilty to killing Jacque Waller and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Jacque's sister Cheryl Brenneke gave a victim-impact statement. And a recording of an angry message from Jacque and Clay Waller's son Maddox, now 7 years old, to his guilty father was played...

Visitation and funeral services for Jacque Waller will be Saturday in Park Hills, Mo., a family member said. Waller's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, said visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Esther Baptist Church, 412 Seventh St. in Park Hills. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Waller's family is requesting donations to either the Jacque ...

Clay Waller is expected in court this afternoon to enter a guilty plea in connection to the death of his wife Jacque Waller. A plea hearing is set for 1:30 p.m., Cape Girardeau County Circuit Judge Ben Lewis said earlier this week. Prosecutors and the public defender's office have been silent on the details of what Clay Waller will plead to, or what sentence he might get...

The disappearance of Jacque Waller from one state and the discovery of her body in another could make the person responsible for her disappearance criminally liable in multiple jurisdictions, a legal expert said. Waller disappeared June 1, 2011. Prosecutors announced her remains were found May 29...

Security will be tight at a Thursday afternoon hearing where Clay Waller is expected to plead guilty in connection with the death of his estranged wife, a Cape Girardeau County circuit judge reported. Waller faces a charge of first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Jacque Waller, whose body was found last week in Illinois...

Before Jacque Waller's body was found last week, prosecutors were relying on largely circumstantial evidence in their case against her estranged husband, Clay Waller, who is expected to plead guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in connection with her June 1, 2011, disappearance...

The most damning piece of evidence in the case against the man accused of murdering Jacque Waller may be the one prosecutors can't use: his late father's claim that Clay Waller confessed to breaking his wife's neck and burying her body in a hole he dug ahead of time...

While Judge Benjamin Lewis has not issued a gag order in the Jacque Waller homicide case, legal experts say authorities have good reasons to be tight-lipped in the wake of the discovery of Waller's body last week...

A rainy morning couldn't dampen a celebration of life during the second annual Jacque Waller 5k Run and Family Walk on Saturday. The event, held at the Shawnee Park Sports Complex, 1157 S. West End Blvd., marked the second anniversary of Jacque Waller's disappearance June 1, 2011. But after a week that saw the search for Waller come to a close, the occasion had special meaning for her family and friends...

After two years of searching and waiting, a formal announcement came Thursday: The remains of Jacque Waller were finally discovered. Saturday is the two-year anniversary of the day the Jackson mother of triplets went missing. The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office issued a news release about 2 p.m. Thursday, which simply stated Jacque Waller's remains were recovered Wednesday.

"Just shock" is what Jacque Waller's sister, Cheryl Brenneke, said she felt when she heard her sister's body had been found earlier this week. "You anticipate how you're going to feel for two years," Brenneke said. "You just can't prepare yourself, really. You just can't." Brenneke, who has custody of Jacque and Clay Waller's 7-year-old triplets, Maddox, Avery and Addison, told the children the news Thursday morning -- "that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life," she said....

The discovery Monday in Cleveland of three women who disappeared more than a decade ago has lent hope to families and investigators searching for missing people in Southeast Missouri. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were found alive in a house near downtown Cleveland, where police said they had been held captive since they were in their teens or early 20s...

Clay Waller, who faces charges of first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence for his alleged role in the disappearance of his estranged wife Jacque, will go to trial Sept. 9 to 20 at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson...

The Waller triplets turned 7 Sunday, as volunteers again searched another secluded spot for their missing mother. Their father, meanwhile, remained incarcerated awaiting a court date this week -- and eventually a trial -- on charges that he killed her and disposed of the body...

A federal appeals court has upheld Clay Waller's sentence for making an Internet threat against his missing wife's sister. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling upholding the sentence on Friday. Waller was sentenced in January for making threats against Cheryl Brenneke, his missing wife's sister, on the website Topix. Waller pleaded guilty last October to threatening to kill Brenneke if she hurt his children. Waller's children are in Brenneke's custody...

Clay Waller's attorney has filed a motion for a change of venue in his client's murder trial, backing up what he said previously -- that he thinks a barrage of local media coverage would prevent Waller from getting an impartial jury in Cape Girardeau County...

Clay Waller pleaded not guilty Monday to a first-degree murder charge, as the high-profile case involving the disappearance of his wife nearly 14 months ago continues to grind its way through the criminal court process. In a hearing that lasted just a few minutes, Waller never spoke as his public defender Chris Davis entered a plea of not guilty to the murder and two evidence tampering charges. ...

Clay Waller has a new judge in his murder trial and his next court date has changed. Waller will now appear for his arraignment on first-degree murder and evidence charges Aug. 13, instead of Monday. A time for the arraignment was not yet set Wednesday, according to the Cape Girardeau County circuit clerk's office...

Prosecutors on Tuesday filed a motion for a change of judge in the James Clay Waller murder case. Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecutor Angel Woodruff filed the motion Tuesday. A preliminary hearing for Waller took place July 25. Cape Girardeau County Judge Gary Kamp bound Waller over to circuit court late Monday afternoon...

Clay Waller will stand trial for the murder of his estranged wife. Cape Girardeau County Judge Gary Kamp bound Waller over to circuit court on Monday, following his preliminary hearing on first-degree murder and evidence tampering charges. Waller is charged in connection with his wife, Jacque Waller's, disappearance on June 1, 2011. Authorities allege Clay Waller killed Jacque Waller after an argument over finances and their pending divorce. The couple had three children together, triplets...

Tickets will be sent to two people arrested for fighting Wednesday outside the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson during a recess from the preliminary hearing for Clay Waller. Jackson city attorney Tom Ludwig said a prosecution witness, Matt Marshall, and Clay Waller's son, James Clay Waller III, who goes by J.C. Waller, will each receive tickets for peace disturbance and "engaging in affray," or fighting...

The prosecution laid out much of its murder case against Clay Waller at his preliminary hearing Wednesday, including testimony from Waller's former landlord, employees and experts, in an effort to convince a judge to take the case to trial.

Family members of Jacque Waller, the Jackson woman who went missing last year, said they plan to be in attendance this week when her estranged husband has a preliminary hearing in her disappearance. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away," said Stan Rawson, the father of Jacque Waller, who went missing more than a year ago. "We want to see justice for Jacque. We'll be there."...

Clay Waller, the man accused of killing his estranged wife Jacque Waller in Cape Girardeau County last year, was arraigned on a murder charge Monday. Circuit Court Judge Gary Kamp set a preliminary hearing in the case for 9 a.m. July 25. Clay Waller's case was also assigned to the public defender's office...

Emotions are still raw for friends and family of Jacque Waller one year after the mother of triplets disappeared. Although her body has never been found, in April prosecutors filed a murder charge against her estranged husband, Clay Waller. Anybody who has had a loved one die unexpectedly can empathize with her family's loss, said Stan Rawson, Jacque Waller's father...

Clay Waller will make his initial court appearance next month on charges that he murdered his wife and tampered with evidence. Waller is set to appear in a Jackson courtroom on June 4. At this initial appearance, the court will establish whether Waller has counsel or needs a public defender...

As friends prepare tributes to Jacque Sue Waller, who went missing June 1 last year, prosecutors are trying to return her estranged husband James Clay Waller to Cape Girardeau County to face a murder charge. And Clay Waller continues the appeal of a five-year sentence for making an Internet threat against Jacque Waller's sister...

Federal prosecutors have responded to Clay Waller's appeal of a five-year sentence imposed on him for a federal Internet threat conviction. Assistant federal prosecutor Larry Ferrell responded to the appeal with a 69-page brief April 17. Waller, 41, pleaded guilty Oct. ...

Friends of Jacque Waller are planning another search in May for the still-missing mother of three from Jackson. A first-degree murder charge was filed against her estranged husband, Clay Waller, on Monday. Jacque Waller was last seen June 1, 2011. Search leader Bobby Sherrill said Tuesday the search will cover over 100 acres in four areas of Cape Girardeau County on May 5. The search is law enforcement directed and no other organizational arrangements have yet been made...

The following items come from court documents and Southeast Missourian reporting of the case since Jacque Waller's June 1, 2011 disappearance. May 29, 2011 Clay pleads guilty to federal Internet threat charge against Brenneke. ...

The holidays were bad. So were four birthdays, hers and those of her young triplets. For the last 11 months, those little moments of life were spent without the woman who was everything and yet something different to each of them -- a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend...

Clay Waller has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of his wife Jacque, according to a news release from Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle. Waller is also charged with two counts of tampering with evidence...

The family of Jacque Waller put out this statement on Monday, April 23, 2012, regarding the charging of her husband, Clay Waller, with her murder. This morning, Morley Swingle, Prosecuting Attorney for Cape Girardeau County (MO) filed first degree murder charges against Clay Waller in the disappearance of his wife, Jacque, last June 1. He is being held on a one million dollar bond...

The following is a news release sent out Monday morning, April 23, 2012, by Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle regarding murder and evidence tampering charges against Clay Waller. On Monday, April 23, 2012, Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle charged James Clay Waller, II, age 41, with first degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in connection with the murder of Waller's wife, Jacque Sue Waller, who has been missing since June 1, 2011...

A walk/run to benefit the family of Jacque Waller is set to mark the one-year anniversary of her disappearance. The Jacque Waller 5K Walk/Run and 1 Mile Family Walk will take place June 2 at Shawnee Park. Proceeds will be donated to the Jacque Waller Family Fund at US Bank, which provides financial help to Jacque's sister and brother-in-law, who have custody of Waller's triplets. Waller was last seen June 1...

A judge has denied a request by Clay Waller's lawyer to dismiss state harassment and stealing charges against him. Scott Reynolds, Waller's lawyer in the state case, submitted a motion last month to dismiss the case on the grounds that Waller, who is in prison on federal charges, can't get a speedy trial...

The federal government miscalculated sentencing guidelines, erroneously alleged Clay Waller killed his wife and used that alleged murder to give him a maximum sentence on Internet threatening charges, Waller's attorney wrote in an appeal that became available to the public Monday...

Clay Waller's appeal on his federal sentence for making a threat over the Internet was deemed deficient by a case manager Thursday. Waller's attorney, Scott Tilsen, electronically submitted the appeal Wednesday afternoon but it was flagged Thursday because Tilsen had only submitted the brief's cover page, according to a memorandum from Missouri Court of Appeals case manager Jackie Polk...

Clay Waller's attorney filed an appeal for his federal sentence on Internet threatening charges Wednesday, but the details of the appeal weren't initially available to the public. Waller was sentenced to five years in prison in January after he pleaded guilty in October to threatening Cheryl Brenneke, his sister-in-law and guardian of his three children, on an Internet message board in July. ...

Clay Waller has been granted three more weeks to file the appeal of his five-year sentence for his federal Internet threatening conviction.

Jacque Waller's sibling may soon be on an episode of "Dr. Phil" to discuss her sister's disappearance, the family's spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. Cheryl Brenneke was contacted by "Dr. Phil" producers about a potential episode on missing people, Brenneke wrote on the Find Jacque Waller Facebook page. Although the episode's planning is in its preliminary stages, Brenneke has submitted photos, Rawson family spokeswoman Laura Helbig said in an email...

Clay Waller has been moved to a low-security federal penitentiary in Louisiana, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Waller is starting a five-year prison sentence after being convicted of threatening his sister-in-law and guardian of his three children, Cheryl Brenneke, on the Internet message board Topix...

A timeline has been set for Clay Waller's appeal of his five-year federal sentence for his Internet threatening conviction. Over the next month, the clerk at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau will turn over all pertinent files in the case, namely a transcript from the sentencing hearing and the presentence investigation report, to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District in St. ...

Clay Waller assaulted and threatened a former lover for leaving him in 1993, according to evidence submitted but not publicly heard during his federal sentencing hearing Tuesday. The evidence filed for Tuesday's hearing paints a portrait of violent and threatening behavior from one of Clay Waller's past relationships that bears similarities to the testimony his sister-in-law and guardian of his three children, Cheryl Brenneke, delivered at the hearing...

The attorney representing Clay Waller in his federal Internet threat case has appealed a judge's ruling that sentenced Waller to five years in federal prison. Scott Tilsen promised to file the appeal at Waller's sentencing hearing on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the appeal had been filed...

Forget reasonable doubt. When Judge Stephen Limbaugh sentenced Clay Waller on Tuesday, he said that, based on the preponderance of evidence, Waller was guilty of murdering his estranged wife. Limbaugh's claim doesn't necessarily mean Clay Waller is guilty of murdering Jacque Waller but that the evidence surrounding her disappearance implicates him as her killer, federal prosecutor Larry Ferrell said...

Clay Waller will spend the next five years in a federal prison for posting a threat against his sister-in-law on an Internet forum site. Waller was sentenced to five years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to federal Internet threat charges in October.

Officials involved in the Jacque Waller disappearance investigation no longer will have access to testimony that claims Clay Waller confessed to killing his wife. James Clay Waller Sr., the only person Clay Waller allegedly confessed murdering Jacque Waller to, died Tuesday morning in a Cape Girardeau nursing home,

Clay Waller's sentencing hearing on federal Internet threatening charges has been pushed back two weeks to give the prosecution time to gather evidence and prepare testimony to contest the sentencing guidelines recently set forth by a presentence report...

Clay Waller would like his sentence on federal Internet threatening charges to be roughly six months in prison, less four-and-a-half months for time served, according to a memorandum filed by his attorney on Wednesday. Waller pleaded guilty Oct. 3 in federal court to a charge of making a threat against Cheryl Brennecke, his missing wife's sister and guardian of his children, on the online message board Topix. ...

An initial presentence report on Clay Waller's federal conviction suggests he spends six to 10 months in a penitentiary for threatening his sister-in-law on an online message board, but the prosecution argues his sentence range should be higher.

Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court Judge William Syler has denied a prosecutor's motion to preserve testimony that implicates Clay Waller in his wife's murder. Syler denied on Friday Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle's motion to preserve testimony of Clay Waller's father, James Clay Waller Sr., that Clay Waller alleged broke his wife Jacque Waller's neck and buried her. ...

A hearing Friday will determine whether testimony from Clay Waller's father will be preserved, and Waller will be there despite wanting no part in the hearing. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus Tuesday that requests Waller's presence at the hearing. A judge will decide whether Waller's father's testimony, which alleges Clay Waller confessed to murdering his wife Jacque Waller and burying her, will be preserved...

Investigators found Jacque Waller's purse and some of its contents during a search for evidence linked to her disappearance alongside southbound Interstate 55 Thursday and Friday, Waller's father confirmed Friday.

Clay Waller's attorney would like a judge with little or no knowledge of the Jacque Waller disappearance investigation to preside over an upcoming hearing connected to the case. The hearing will determine whether his client's father's testimony will be preserved -- testimony that alleged says Clay Waller confessed to murdering his estranged wife and burying her body...

Jackson police, firefighters, Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputies and FBI personnel canvassed the area where Jacque Waller's car was found for items associated with her disappearance Thursday afternoon.

Although there is no Missouri precedent that deals directly with the preservation of testimony before formal criminal charges, the testimony of Clay Waller's father should be preserved, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle wrote in a brief filed Tuesday...

A new judge will preside over the hearing that will determine whether testimony from Clay Waller's father can be preserved as evidence. Cape Girardeau Circuit Court Judge William Syler will replace Judge Benjamin Lewis in the Nov. 18 hearing after Waller's attorney, Scott Reynolds, filed a motion for a change of judge Thursday. Lewis sustained the motion the same day, according to court documents...

The attorney who is representing Clay Waller in his state theft and harassment case will also represent him in an investigation that may lead to a murder charge.

Clay Waller's attorney is challenging the state's application to preserve the testimony of Waller's father that his son admitted to murdering his estranged wife.

No one has seen or heard from Jacque Waller in more than four months. She has not touched her bank account or used her cellphone. Her vehicle was found abandoned on the side of Interstate 55 near Fruitland. Legions of volunteers and police officers have combed the Cape Girardeau area for any trace of Jacque. Cadaver dogs have sniffed through miles of wooded areas, looking for her beneath the ground. The searches have yielded no results, and searchers are still investigating leads...

Clay Waller struggled to speak while he stood in front of U.S. District Judge Steven Limbaugh Jr. in Cape Girardeau on Monday afternoon. He paused before answering almost every one of Limbaugh's questions with one word answers.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) -- The estranged husband of a Missouri woman missing for more than four months is expected to change his not-guilty plea today on a federal charge that he made an Internet threat against his wife's sister. Court documents show that Clay Waller of Jackson filed a motion to change the plea. The hearing is in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau...

Jacque Waller has now been missing for four months. But that hasn't deterred searchers from combing hundreds more acres, or supporters of her family from gathering and continuing to pray. Bobby Sherrill led a 25-person team from the CUE Center for Missing Persons and a few community volunteers on another search of approximately 200 acres from 8:30 a.m. ...

A search for Jacque Waller and two events to commemorate four months since her disappearance are planned for Saturday. Jacque Waller has been missing since June 1, and prosecutors have named her estranged husband Clay Waller as a suspect. Authorities say Clay Waller was the last person to see Jacque Waller before she disappeared from the Jackson home where Clay Waller was staying...

Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney hopes to depose Clay Waller's ailing father in anticipation of filing murder charges in connection with Jacque Waller's disappearance.

Clay Waller will change his plea to federal charges of making an Internet threat next week, according to court documents made public Tuesday. Earlier this month, Waller pleaded not guilty to threatening his sister-in-law on an online message board. Waller filed a motion Tuesday to change his plea Oct. 3, when his federal trial is supposed to begin...

Clay Waller will go to trial on federal charges of making an Internet threat next month after waiving his right to a pretrial motions hearing.

Clay Waller's federal public defender filed a motion Monday to revoke Waller's detention order, saying the prosecution made a weak case in detaining his client. Last week, Magistrate Judge Lewis Blanton ruled Waller should be kept in custody until he goes to trial on a federal charge of making threats over the Internet...

Clay Waller's release from custody would present a danger to the community and a serious risk that he would not show up in court, a judge wrote Thursday in denying Waller's bond request on a federal Internet threat charge. And Magistrate Judge Lewis Blanton also wrote that he considered information that was presented at last week's detention hearing about Waller's alleged involvement in the possible disappearance of his wife, Jacque...

When Clay Waller tearfully admitted to his father that he killed his estranged wife Jacque, he made a motion with his arms that suggested he broke her neck, according to an FBI supplemental affidavit admitted into evidence in federal court Monday.

She didn't deserve to live. A divorce would be a death sentence. And if he couldn't get to her, he would kill the children just to cause her pain. In Jacque Waller's diary that became public last week, she describes an anguished existence that she claims came at the hands of her estranged husband in the years before her June 1 disappearance...

Clay Waller confessed to his father that he murdered his estranged wife and buried her in a hole he dug beforehand, federal prosecutor Larry Ferrell said Thursday in a federal courtroom.

An investigation by the FBI has prompted federal charges to be filed against Clay Waller, alleging he made Internet threats against his missing wife's sister, authorities said Friday. A felony charge of making a threat on an interstate communications device was filed against Waller Friday in U.S. District Court, said Assistant federal prosecutor Keith Sorrell. Such a charge carries a range of punishment up to five years, he said...

Ask Morley Swingle the difference between a person of interest and a suspect, and the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney recalls the story of Richard Jewell. Jewell was the security guard wrongly accused and later cleared of setting off a deadly bomb at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Olympics. Jewell, who died in 2007, became the poster child of the wrongly accused...

A Cape Girardeau County prosecutor called Clay Waller a severe flight risk and a "suspect" in the investigation of his missing wife Tuesday, marking the first time authorities have deviated from calling him anything other than a person of interest

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- It's a sunny, late-summer morning and the 5-year-old Waller triplets are goofing off. Addison, the high-spirited redhead, is riding her bike outside. Avery, the blond who likes to dance and wear sunglasses, is offering a quick tour of the room she shares with her sister, annoying her aunt with the music cranked up...

The first time Joe Landam ever laid eyes on Jacque Waller was in photographs that were televised on Nancy Grace's CNN talk show. The second time he saw her, he says, was a few days later -- alive in the lobby of a Phoenix apartment complex. "She looked just like the person I saw in the picture," said Landam, who is a lifelong Phoenix resident. "I swear it looked like the girl on the news. I was like, 'Wow, maybe this is her.'"...

Citing weather concerns, the group organizing Saturday's search for Jacque Waller has postponed the search until today. The weather forecast for Saturday called for scattered thunderstorms, and organizers say now the search will be today. Volunteers are asked to meet at the Rhodes 101 convenience store in Fruitland, Mo., at 8 a.m...

Volunteers will continue their search for Jacque Waller on Saturday and are asking those interested in assisting in the search to show up at 8 a.m. at Cape County Cowboy Church, 2020 Orchid Lane in Oak Ridge. Organizers said in a news release that they are hoping this will be the largest search yet. ...

The fact that Clay Waller works in construction has not been lost on law enforcement officers, who said Monday that his job sites have been a part of the investigation since his wife's disappearance more than two months ago.