Dad on trial for murdering pregnant wife; she and 4-year-old son had been trying to leave (Ozark, Missouri)

Dad JAMES EDWARD WHITE is on trial for murdering his pregnant wife. The 4-year-old son says that he and his mother were trying to leave the home--in fact the boy was sitting in the car with the engine running--when his dad allegedly shot his mom in the face. Dad was on parole for trafficking cocaine at the time of the murder.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20090817/NEWS01/908170341/1007/Ozark-murder-suspect-faces-Aug.-24-trial

Ozark murder suspect faces Aug. 24 trial
Man allegedly shot his pregnant wife in face with shotgun at close range.

Tara Muck News-Leader

Ozark -- The murder trial of an Ozark man accused of shooting his pregnant wife in 2006 is set to begin Aug. 24, said Christian County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Cleek.

James Edward White, 34, faces second-degree murder charges after his wife, Candice White, was found shot in the couple's Ozark home.

According to a probable cause statement written by Detective David Southard, White called 911 and was found by responding officers "kneeling over her as if attempting to give her medical assistance."

Candice White, who suffered a shotgun wound to the face, was pronounced dead at the scene, along with her unborn child. She was between 16 to 18 weeks pregnant.

Outside in a running vehicle sat the couple's 4-year-old son, who told police he and his mother were trying to leave the residence, but Candice and James White had been arguing and his father "had been upset," the statement said.

James White first told 911 dispatchers that "while getting his gun out of the truck, it went off and hit his wife in the head." But he later changed his story, telling police that the couple were arguing. He told police his wife held a shotgun and during a struggle the gun went off and hit Candice White in the head.

After analysis of the scene, Southard said the angle of the bloodstains and skull fragments show that James White was facing his wife holding the shotgun when the trigger was pulled.

The autopsy report also showed no signs of contact wounds to the face and no powder burns to the face, which would have been "consistent with a close range shot from a firearm," Southard wrote.

Cleek said he tried for a second count of second-degree murder for the death of the fetus. But the doctor who performed the autopsy said there was no proof the baby could have lived outside the womb at that stage of the pregnancy.

"I needed to be able to show that the fetus would have been viable before I could file a second murder 2 (charge)," Cleek said. "But I couldn't show viability. I asked the doctor and pushed him very hard for that and he said he couldn't do it."

The murder trial is expected to be emotional, with both families likely to fill the courtroom, Cleek said.

White, who was on parole at the time for trafficking cocaine in Kentucky, has since been convicted on federal charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

If convicted of the Class A felony of second-degree murder, White could face an additional 10 to 30 years or life in prison.