Change of Venue for Smurf
BLOOMFIELD – An accused killer was granted a change of venue recently from Stoddard County and will be tried for first-degree murder in Butler County, court records indicate.
Allen Dale “Smurf” McCoy, 40, of 109 Joyce, Bernie was implicated along with his wife Angela “Angie” McCoy, 43, in the 2010 stabbing death of then 67-year-old Aubrey Lee Finch of Bernie.
Angela McCoy, through her Jefferson City attorney, Heather Lee Vodnansky, accepted a plea agreement in April 2013 offered by Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver and will serve 85 percent of a 20-year sentence for second-degree murder, court records state. The arrangement specifies she must testify against her husband in connection with the slaying, reports indicate.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Mayer accepted her plea, records state.
The state originally sought death by lethal injection in Angela McCoy’s case, according to court records. It is unclear if the state seeks the death penalty against her husband.
Allen McCoy, who is represented by Saint Louis Public Defender Beth Ann Davis, was committed for mental evaluation and recently was cleared to begin the trial process, reports state.
McCoy has been jailed or in evaluation since his arrest in 2010, records indicate.
According to court reports, a case review is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 16 in Division I Room 302 of the Butler County Courthouse, 100 N. Main St., Poplar Bluff.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Martin Pritchett is slated to preside.