Participants in two ongoing court cases of local interest made appearances Wednesday at the Callaway County Courthouse.
1981 murder
Conrad Schmitt III, the O'Fallon man charged for the 1981 death of Ricky Ridings, entered a plea of not guilty to capital murder Wednesday.
Schmitt, 64, is currently serving a life sentence for a 1995 first-degree murder case in St. Charles County. He appeared via video arraignment.
The case has been added to the trial setting docket.
Deputies responded July 8, 1981, to a report of human remains found in a vehicle parked alongside Little Tavern Creek in the southeast part of the county outside of Portland, according to information from the Callaway County Sheriff's Department.
The body eventually was identified as Ridings, who had been reported missing by his family June 30, 1981. It was determined he died from a shotgun wound to the head.
In June 2017, sheriff's officials received new information on the case, and investigators from the Department of Corrections and detectives from the O'Fallon Police Department assisted in the investigation.
In March of this year, the information gathered was turned over to the Callaway County Prosecutor's Office. That eventually led to the charge and indictment of Schmitt.
Williams sentencing rescheduled
Oren Williams, 29, pleaded guilty to felony abuse of a child on March 26 and was scheduled for a sentencing hearing Wednesday.
However, on May 16, the Centertown resident's attorney Daniel Hunt filed a motion to set aside his guilty plea, which was sustained Wednesday. The state filed amended information, changing the charge Williams faces to felony first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Williams once again pleaded guilty.
His sentencing hearing is set for June 25.
On June 20, 2017, a Children's Division investigator requested the assistance of Deputy Nicholas Jensen in investigating a potential case of child abuse, Jensen reported in a probable cause statement. The investigator, Jensen stated, received a hotline report alleging Williams broke a child's arm.
Jensen and the investigator interviewed the child at an elementary school, according to the statement. Medical records confirmed the child's right humerus was broken.
Jensen said the child claimed Williams threw the child over a baby gate from the kitchen to the living room. The minor also said Williams ordered the child to "stop crying" or he would make the child's arm "worser," Jensen reported.
According to the probable cause statement, a witness told Jensen the incident took place June 17. Jensen also reported two witnesses and the child told investigators Williams instructed them not to inform anyone about "what happened to (the child)."
The statement also said Williams admitted to Deputy Jeff Harding he threw the child over a baby gate and told the two witnesses and the child not to tell anyone.