7 years, 11 months ago by Jim Dewey
Monroe County judge recuses himself
The case against a Columbia, Missouri man, accused of 1st Degree Murder in a Monroe County man's death, has been delayed.
34 year old Jason Lage appeared in a Marion County court room Wednesday afternoon for his arraignment on charges of 1st Degree Murder, Armed Criminal Action and Evidence Tampering in the 2014 shooting death of Zachary Dawson. At that hearing, Monroe County judge Michael Wilson recused himself from the case, saying he had already presided over a preliminary hearing involving related charges against Lage. The state will now have to appoint a new judge to hear Lage's preliminary hearing on the new charge of 1st Degree Murder, which was filed earlier this week.
The shooting happened at a house in Madison in February 2014, when Lage allegedly held a gun to Dawson's head to intimidate him during a robbery, and it went off. Lage's in the Monroe County Jail on one million dollars' bond.
--6:38 A.M.--
More than two years after the shooting death of a Monroe County man, prosecutors there have now charged a mid-Missouri man with First Degree Murder.
34 year old Jason Lage faces that charge in the death of 26 year old Zachary Dawson of Madison, as well as charges of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Evidence Tampering stemming from the February 2014 shooting. He had earlier been charged with Second Degree Murder, but the new charge was filed Tuesday, based on new evidence, including conversations with a fellow inmate.
Lage and a co-defendant, Jessica Munoz of Moberly, were arrested shortly after the shooting but murder charges weren't filed for several months, as investigators tried to sort out conflicting stories the two told about the incident. Munoz pled guilty earlier this month in Audrain County to first degree Involuntary Manslaughter and Hindering Prosecution of a Felony. She'll be sentenced July 22nd.
Lage's trial was set to begin next month in Marion County but is now delayed so a new judge can take over the proceedings. He's being held on a Million Dollars cash only bond.
