On the morning of July 25, 1980, in St. Charles, Missouri, 19-year-old Mary Michelle Fleming was brutally attacked in her apartment. Having just returned from a nearby grocery store, she was followed by a man who entered her home with the intent to burglarize it. A violent struggle ensued, leaving a trail of blood through the living room and kitchen. Fleming sustained multiple stab wounds to her chest and her throat was cut from ear to ear.
Despite her grievous injuries, Fleming, clad only in a bikini top, managed to flee her apartment and run to a neighbor's home for help. She collapsed on their doorstep after uttering the words, 'Help me.' Emergency services were called, and she was rushed to a local hospital, but tragically succumbed to her injuries and bled to death. Initially, the lack of an apparent motive puzzled investigators, though it was clear a violent struggle had occurred.
The investigation quickly led police to identify a suspect, Anthony Joe LaRette Jr., who was 28 years old at the time. A friend of LaRette's, after hearing news reports describing a car linked to the crime that matched his own which he had lent to LaRette, contacted LaRette who then confessed to the murder during a phone call that was partially overheard by a detective. An arrest warrant was issued, and LaRette was apprehended in Topeka, Kansas, after a failed suicide attempt. He was charged with capital murder, and his bond was set at $500,000.
During his trial, LaRette offered conflicting stories, at one point claiming an accomplice was the killer and in another version that he had killed Fleming by accident after she screamed. Prosecutors presented evidence of the brutal nature of the crime to the jury. Anthony Joe LaRette Jr. was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death. Following his conviction for the murder of Mary Fleming, LaRette would go on to confess to numerous other murders in multiple states. He was executed on November 29, 1995.
