10:02 AM
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Jesse Dean Driskill (mug shot LCSO)

A Laclede County man charged with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of a Bennett Springs couple last July is due in court tomorrow.
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Prosecutors say Jesse Dean Driskill raped and sodomized 76 year-old Coleen Wilson before he shot her and her 82 year-old husband Johnnie after the couple caught him stealing outside their rural Laclede County home. 

Authorities say Driskill poured an accelerant on the couples bodies and attempted to burn them in an attempt to destroy evidence, but the fire never fully ignited.
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Johnnie and Coleen Wilson

Driskill, who has an extensive criminal history and was wanted for a parole violation, was spotted by a Laclede County deputy in Bennett Springs state park shortly before midnight on July 26th.  He fled into a heavily wooded area and stumbled on the couples remote home, which is about two miles from where he was last seen. 

The couple had just celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary the day before they were killed.

According to the probable cause statement, Driskill allegedly confessed to someone who picked him up in Dallas County, not far from where the Wilson's stolen vehicle was found burning, that he killed a couple and set their house on fire.

Motions for a change of judge and venue were filed with the court before Driskill's public defender's withdrew from the case.  New attorney's and those motions are expected to be heard tomorrow.

The News Leader has a gallery of Driskill's mug shots here.

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