Attorney General's News Release

June 27, 2008

State Supreme Court sets July 30 execution date for 1995 drug-related murders in Mercer County

Jefferson City, Mo. - The Missouri Supreme Court today set a July 30 execution date for John Middleton (DOB - 11/2/59). Middleton was sentenced to die for the June 1995 murders of Randy Hamilton and Stacey Hodge in rural Mercer County. The office of Attorney General Jay Nixon prosecuted the case and has represented the state in opposing Middleton's appeals.

On June 10, 1995, several drug dealers were arrested in Cainsville, Mo. Middleton, a methamphetamine dealer, worried that informants would implicate him as well, telling another individual that there were "some snitches that should be taken care of," because he did not want to go back to prison. The next day, Middleton shot and killed Hamilton and Hodge on a gravel road. Middleton and his girlfriend, Maggie Hodges, then put the bodies in the trunk of Hamilton's car, where they were discovered in Mercer County on July 10, 1995.

Middleton was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder, and received two death sentences in June 1998.

Middleton was also convicted in the 1995 murder of another man, Alfred Pinegar, for which he also received the death penalty.

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