BONNE TERRE, Mo. – Authorities arrested a Missouri man over the weekend in connection with a 35-year-old cold case murder investigation.

Wesley P. Marler, 69, of Bonne Terre, Missouri, was arrested Friday. He is accused in the death of Jimmie Wade Martin from Oct. 14, 1989, also in Bonne Terre, Missouri.

Investigators say Martin died after he was found beaten and wounded in front a home near the Coal Bin Tavern. While a suspect was reportedly charged at the time, the case never went to trial.

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In December 2020, the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri Highway Patrol began a review of the investigation into Martin’s death. In a statement announcing that the case would be reopened three years ago, authorities say they hoped technologies that didn’t exist in 1989 can help bring resolution.

On August 22, 2024, a St. Francois County Grand Jury indicted Marler with one count of first-degree assault in connection with Martin’s death. A warrant was issued for Marler’s arrest last Friday, leading to his arrest, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Marler was sent to the St. Francois County Jail, where he is being held on a $500,000 bond.

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This month, Mid-Missouri residents will be able to receive the updated COVID-19 booster.

The booster is available at Walgreens and CVS locations in Mid-Missouri. The Columbia Missourian reported the updated vaccine is available at Hy-Vee locations, as well. Other local pharmacies including Kilgore’s, D&H Drugstore and Columbia Urgent Care are set to receive the booster some time this month.

MU Health Care told KOMU 8 last week that it would have the updated vaccine this month.

The booster will target the omicron KP. 2 variant and lead to increased protection from the virus that causes COVID-19. Anyone 6 months and older is eligible to receive the booster.

The Food and Drug Administration advised in June that updated vaccines should target the omicron KP. 2 variant as COVID-19 cases began to rise.

Austin Krohn, a spokesperson for Columbia/Boone Public Health and Human Services, said over the summer Columbia seen a high number of COVID-19 cases.

“That can be due to people getting together indoors with that air condition ventilation that makes people susceptible to catching it,” Krohn said.

Krohn said it’s recommended that everyone get this booster, regardless of their vaccination status.

Missouri saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases in August, which MU Health Care attributed to travel and students returning to schools.

MU Health Care said the new dominant strains of omicron are potentially more contagious than previous variants, but they are not causing more illness, according to past KOMU 8 reporting.

OSAGE COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) – A man and a 7-year-old girl have died after a boating crash on the Gasconade River Sunday evening.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol boating report, around 7 p.m., 30-year-old Reven Newbound was driving a 2002 Gatorboat upstream on the Gasconade River from Pointers Creek.

The crash happened when the boat hit a root wad in the water, causing it to crash into a rock bluff.

There were seven people in the boat at the time, four of which were children ages nine and under. Newbound and the 7-year-old girl died from the crash.

Four other people in the boat were taken to area hospitals with serious injuries. Six of the seven people were from Owensville, Missouri, and the seventh person was from Bland, Missouri.

This marks MSHP Troop F’s 3rd and 4th fatal boating incident in 2024.

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