Story Published:
May 28, 2009 at 11:58 AM CDT
Story Updated:
May 28, 2009 at 11:58 AM CDT
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Oregon County prosecuting attorney dropped charges of arson and murder against a prisoner who was accused for a fire in the county jail in Alton in September 2007. An inmate, Jesse Johnson, 17, died in that fire.
Another inmate, Nicholas Pacheco, was charged for the fire and Johnson’s death. Before his trial began on Wednesday, Pacheco pleaded guilty for attempted escape. Pacheco was in the Oregon County jail at the time of the fire after being arrested on a warrant from Illinois, where he lived.
Prosecutors in Illinois dropped their charges while Pacheco was hospitalized with his injuries from the jail fire. Sheriff's deputies had to go to Peopria, Ill., to arrest Pacheco in August 2008.
The Oregon County prosecutor says he chose not to go to trial on the second-degree murder and first-degree arson charges because of insufficient evidence. Pacheco received a four-year prison sentence for attempted escape, with credit for time served in the county jail.
A judge moved the case from Oregon County to Butler County to try to ensure a fair outcome.
