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Corn changes plea, sentenced in murder of wife
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By ROGER MEISSEN
The Fulton Sun
With a few simple words of affirmation, David Corn brought his proceedings to a halt before a murder trial even began.
Corn - who originally faced charges for the first-degree murder of his wife Melissa - calmly pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in Callaway County Circuit Court. That lesser charge came as part of a plea deal that ensured Corn's incarceration in a case that might not have garnered first-degree muster in a trial.
“We had to prove premeditation or deliberation,” Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney Bob Sterner said. “We had a couple of things that might have held up if there were an appeal, but those were things he did after he killed her.
“You've got a stronger case if you can show things you can prove were done before the murder clearly for the purpose of the murder, and we didn't have those,” he continued. “The defense would have been able to argue with equal authority that he went where he left her and only there - in the heat of what went on - decided to kill her and did kill her.”
Judge Kevin Crane read the charges to Corn, affirmed that he understood them and then delivered a sentence of 25 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Sterner said he discussed the plea bargain with both of Melissa Corn's surviving family members.
“We were in communication with the victim's family - she has a surviving brother and father,” Sterner said. “We met with both of them once and met with the father in August wherein we discussed the case, and he understood why we might do something like what happened today, continued to think the maximum sentence of the death penalty was appropriate, but understood what we were doing.”
Corn was arrested and charged in May for the murder of his wife. Her body was found April 20 near the Missouri River access point along County Road 479 near Mokane.
The corpse - known only as Jane Doe for nearly a month - was identified after an anthropologist's report showed the body had suffered from long-term immobilization. This led a man who sold a wheelchair to Melissa Corn to come forward with information. After her family reported her missing, subsequent DNA testing confirmed that the body was hers.
Corn - who originally faced charges for the first-degree murder of his wife Melissa - calmly pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday in Callaway County Circuit Court. That lesser charge came as part of a plea deal that ensured Corn's incarceration in a case that might not have garnered first-degree muster in a trial.
“We had to prove premeditation or deliberation,” Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney Bob Sterner said. “We had a couple of things that might have held up if there were an appeal, but those were things he did after he killed her.
“You've got a stronger case if you can show things you can prove were done before the murder clearly for the purpose of the murder, and we didn't have those,” he continued. “The defense would have been able to argue with equal authority that he went where he left her and only there - in the heat of what went on - decided to kill her and did kill her.”
Judge Kevin Crane read the charges to Corn, affirmed that he understood them and then delivered a sentence of 25 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Sterner said he discussed the plea bargain with both of Melissa Corn's surviving family members.
“We were in communication with the victim's family - she has a surviving brother and father,” Sterner said. “We met with both of them once and met with the father in August wherein we discussed the case, and he understood why we might do something like what happened today, continued to think the maximum sentence of the death penalty was appropriate, but understood what we were doing.”
Corn was arrested and charged in May for the murder of his wife. Her body was found April 20 near the Missouri River access point along County Road 479 near Mokane.
The corpse - known only as Jane Doe for nearly a month - was identified after an anthropologist's report showed the body had suffered from long-term immobilization. This led a man who sold a wheelchair to Melissa Corn to come forward with information. After her family reported her missing, subsequent DNA testing confirmed that the body was hers.
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