Headlines from this day in local history encompass a fatal freak accident, a kidnapping investigation and local frenzy around a murder trial.
The trial revolved around four men accused in a 1976 robbery and double-murder at a Wayne County tavern. The judge in the case issued one of Missouri’s first gag orders and scolded members of the public for threatening the defense attorneys.
100 years ago
May 8, 1926
• Two teens were seriously injured — one fatally — in unrelated falls less than 24 hours apart.
The first accident happened around 7:30 p.m. yesterday, after three teenage boys climbed into the attic of Poplar Bluff’s First Baptist Church to catch pigeons. The church attic and roof featured a skylight over a Sunday school room. Fourteen-year-old Ralph Miller was standing next to the skylight when a startled pigeon flew at him and he grabbed for it, accidentally stepping onto glass. It shattered under him and Miller fell 20 feet and landed across four rows of wooden seats. The unconscious boy was rushed to Lucy Lee Hospital with a fractured skull, badly broken leg and internal injuries. He died this afternoon without waking up…