ST. LOUIS (AP) - The man accused of killing a southeast Missouri tattoo artist and putting his remains in a septic tank has been sentenced to 30 years in prison on a methamphetamine conspiracy conviction unrelated to the killing.
The Daily Journal newspaper in Park Hills, Missouri (http://bit.ly/1y5k4p2) reports that 50-year-old Melvin Scherrer of Bonne Terre was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Scherrer was found guilty in December in the federal case.
Scherrer is still awaiting trial in state court on first-degree murder and four other felonies in connection with the death of 38-year-old Samuel "Tick" Francis of Cape Girardeau. Francis' body was found in July 2013 in a septic tank near Bonne Terre.
The state trial was on hold until the federal drug case was resolved.