Police in Missouri charge Tamaqua man with homicide

Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
·1 min read

Apr. 28—A 20-year-old Tamaqua man has been charged with homicide in a stabbing case in Missouri.

The Phelps County Sheriff's Department said Josue Martinez, along with Kimberly D. Riston, 29, of Banning, California, are charged with first-degree murder and other counts in the death of Donald Coy Wethy Jr., 36, of St. James, Missouri. The defendants are in prison without bond.

At about 8:06 a.m. April 21, law enforcement officers responded to the Economy Inn Motel in St. James and found Wethy deceased in the parking lot from apparent knife wounds. An autopsy was planned to determine the exact cause of death, police said.

A short time later, an off-duty Phelps County corrections officer and her husband, a Sullivan police officer, got the notification that police were searching for Martinez and Riston in connection with the incident. While driving on Highway 63 in Maries County, they observed the suspects walking nearby. They reported the incident and maintained visual contact until Missouri State Highway Patrol officers arrived. Martinez and Riston were taken into custody without incident, the sheriff's department reported.

The investigation is ongoing but information indicates that no one else was involved, the department reported.

A detective was not available Tuesday to discuss further details about the case.

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