Longtime prosecutor Larry Ferrell to retire at year's end

Longtime prosecutor Larry Ferrell plans to retire at year's end, concluding a more than three-decade career prosecuting thousands of cases and many of the area's worst criminals.

Ferrell prosecuted cases for Cape Girardeau County for six years in the 1980s, the last four as prosecuting attorney.

He worked in private practice for several years before becoming a federal prosecutor. He has served as assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri for 26 years.

Ferrell has led the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cape Girardeau since its inception in 1991.

"The prosecutor's job is to seek justice," Ferrell said, reflecting on his career. "There is a lot of satisfaction in this job."

Ferrell said, "We have always had people who refuse to live by the law,"

As a prosecutor, Ferrell said he always had a desire to seek justice for the victims of crimes and their families.

"You can't help but be touched at times emotionally, Ferrell said.

"It is incredibly hard to leave," said Ferrell, adding he expects to be working at his desk in the federal courthouse on New Year's Eve.

During his time as a federal prosecutor, Ferrell served the pursuit of justice in Iraq on two occasions. He spent nine months in Iraq in 2006, assisting Iraqi prosecutors in presenting evidence of war crimes in the trial of Saddam Hussein.

Hussein was executed in December 2006.

Ferrell returned to Iraq in August 2008 as a justice attached to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. His second stint lasted until September 2009.

Ferrell said he helped set up a system of justice for the Middle Eastern country, working with law-enforcement and judiciary officials on how to effectively implement the rule of law.

He called it the "greatest blessing" to support the men and women in the U.S. military.

As Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney from 1983 to 1987, Ferrell helped form the area's Major Case Squad of officers from various departments to help solve major crimes.

Ferrell said he is proud of the continuing success story of the Major Case Squad, which has solved numerous murder cases.

"They have an incredible record," he said.

Technology has changed the investigation and prosecution of crimes over the years, Ferrell said.

Early on, there were no DNA tests, he said.

Now many crimes are solved with DNA evidence, he added.

Today, cellphone communications, social media, other electronic communications and debit transactions often provide vital evidence in the prosecution of cases, he said.

Video surveillance also has become a key piece of evidence in many cases, according to Ferrell.

Ferrell said he personally supervised or handled more than 3,500 federal criminal investigations and 2,000 criminal indictments for everything from murder to million-dollar bank frauds.

He has handled about 100 jury trials as a county prosecutor and federal prosecutor, obtaining convictions in every trial.

While he is retiring as a prosecutor, Ferrell said he intends to continue to practice law part-time. He intends to join the Cape Girardeau law firm of his son, Matthew Ferrell.

Ferrell said he may do some writing, focusing on some of the criminal cases he prosecuted.

He said he also wants to volunteer his time to help others.

"I want to give back to the community," Ferrell said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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