Bowers gets change of venue, will stand trial in Poplar Bluff

Marcus Bowers, an 18-year-old charged with first-degree murder in connection with the September death of a Kelso, Mo., man, will stand trial for the crime this summer in Poplar Bluff, Mo., on a change of venue from Scott County.

At a hearing in Butler County Tuesday morning, Judge Mark L. Richardson set Bowers' case for pretrial conference at 10 a.m. July 22.

The jury trial will begin Aug. 20 and continue through Aug. 21.

Bowers allegedly caused the death of Stan Hagan by slamming the older man's head into a mobile home tie-down stake during an altercation police say happened Sept. 23. Hagan died of related injuries five days later after two emergency surgeries.

The incident is said to have occurred at a residence on Crites Street in Scott City.

Bowers was not arrested for the murder until Jan. 3. Police originally reported Hagan's death as an accident but launched an investigation a few weeks later, which continued for three months before the arrest was made.