A Mid-Missouri couple had a suicide pact if they ever were caught by law officers - and attempted to execute that pact Monday afternoon.
Joseph L. Thompson, 28, Belle, was listed in serious condition Tuesday evening at University Hospital in Columbia, where he and Susan M. Koelling, 29 - a neighbor on County Road 715, Belle - had been flown by helicopter Monday, after cutting their own throats with knives each carried.
"This was most definitely one of the more gruesome and horrific and bizarre investigations that I have been a part of," new Osage County Sheriff Michael Dixon said. "It's really, really unfortunate."
The suicide attempts came after officers tried to arrest the two on warrants issued Monday after Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner charged them Saturday with possession of a methamphetamine precursor drug, with the intent to manufacture amphetamine, methamphetamine or another "analog" drug.