Third capital trial begins in 1996 double slaying

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Cecil Barriner's third trial for allegedly murdering two New Madrid County women in 1996 began Wednesday with the prosecution explicitly describing the brutal crimes to the jury.

Barriner, formerly of Poplar Bluff, Mo., is charged with fatally stabbing Irene Sisk, 74, and her granddaughter Candy Sisk, 19, in their Tallapoosa home on Dec. 16, 1996.

Two separate juries previously had convicted Barriner of the crimes in trials held in 1999 and 2002. He received death sentences both times. The Missouri Supreme Court twice overturned his convictions.

Barriner's latest trial is being held in Boone County before a jury of seven men and seven women, including two alternates, selected Tuesday in neighboring Callaway County. None of Barriner's trials have been held in Southeast Missouri due to the publicity surrounding the case.

Prosecutors are again seeking the death penalty.

Assistant attorney general Kevin Zoellner, who is assisting New Madrid County Prosecuting Attorney Lewis Recker, told jurors Barriner killed the women after forcibly taking them to a bank to get him $1,000 so he could go on the run out of fear his probation for earlier convictions would be revoked. Barriner had previously dated Candy Sisk's mother.

The trial is scheduled to last several days.

Barriner, 42, has remained in custody throughout the period of appeals and retrials.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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