BONNE TERRE, Mo. — A Bonne Terre, Missouri, man was arrested on one count of assault in connection with a fatal attack nearly 35 years ago.
Wesley Marler, 69, was charged with first-degree assault in connection with the death of 29-year-old Jimmie Wade Martin on Oct. 14, 1989.
According to a press release from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Martin was found wounded in front of a home in Bonne Terre on Oct. 14, 1989, and later died from his injuries at a hospital. The case went unsolved until December of 2020, when members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control and St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office started to review the case.
When investigators finished the review, they turned their findings over to the Missouri Attorney General's Office and the St. Francois County prosecuting attorney. On Aug. 22, a St. Francois County Grand Jury indicted Marler with one count of first-degree assault. The county prosecutor's office issued a warrant for Marler's arrest on Aug. 30, and he was taken into custody later that day.
Charging documents said Marler struck Martin in the head with a blunt object.
Marler is being held on a $500,000, cash-only bond.
Martin's murder was the subject of the "Small Town Forgotten" podcast, which launched on the 32nd anniversary of the crime and has been following the updates in the case. The podcast follow's Martin's surviving twin daughters and their search for answers in their father's murder.
