Murder retrial begins Monday

WARRENTON - A Poplar Bluff man is set to be tried again on first degree murder charges in connection with the murder of a New Madrid County teen-ager and her grandmother.

The jury selection will begin Monday for Cecil Barriner, who is charged in the murder of Candace Sisk, 19, and her 73-year-old grandmother, Irene Sisk. The Sisks were stabbed to death in their Tallapoosa home on Dec. 16, 1996.

The retrial was ordered after a five-judge majority of the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that prejudicial evidence and testimony was improperly allowed by the judge in Barriner's 1999 trial in Dent County. At that trial, Barriner was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death.

The trial initially was moved to Dent County at the request of Barriner's attorneys and the retrial will be heard in Warren County. The Supreme Court has appointed Judge Edward D. Hodge to hear the retrial.

New Madrid County Prosecuting Attorney H. Riley Bock, who will again try the case, estimated the trial could take from one to two weeks. The state will present some 20 to 30 witnesses.

Barriner is being represented by the Missouri Public Defender's Office.

Since his initial conviction, Barriner has been held in Department of Corrections facilities at Potosi.