ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar announced his office will seek the death penalty for a man charged with killing four people in 2018.
Richard Emery, 46, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and 11 other crimes in December 2018.
Lohmar did not take any questions at the Monday afternoon press conference. ‘In order to preserve the defendants right to a fair trial, Tim will not be taking questions,’ a spokesperson said.
The jury will be given the opportunity to seek the death penalty.
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Three people were found dead inside a St. Charles home in the 100 block of Whetstone Drive – they were identified as 8-year-old Zoe J. Kasten, 10-year-old Jonathan D. Kasten and 61-year-old Jane Moeckel. Kate Kasten was found with gunshot wounds and was transported to a hospital where she died. Lohmar said she was Emery’s girlfriend and the mother of the two children found dead. Moeckel was Kate Kasten's mother and the grandmother of the children.
Rick Moeckel, Kate Kasten’s father, said prosecutors consulted him before moving forward with the death penalty and he approved of the move.
“Thought about it long and hard, kind of go back and forth, but at this point, I’m pretty happy with that,” Moeckel said. “Just the fact of the scope of the whole thing that you killed two people, two kids, little kids that haven’t done anything to you that would cause that.”
Moeckel said he thinks about Richard “Darren” Emery every single day and wants to see justice served.
“Well I’m still angry, it’s hard to say you could forgive, I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive,” he said.
Prosecutors have already warned Rick that the wheels of justice move slowly. Rick is ready for the long haul.
“When that comes - if that happens - I think we’ll all be there,” Moeckel said.