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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A man convicted of killing a sports editor in Columbia in 2001 is asking Gov. Jay Nixon for a pardon.

Ryan Ferguson is serving a 40-year prison sentence for murder and robbery in the November 2001 death of Kent Heitholt, a sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Ferguson has always maintained his innocence and is also seeking a new trial. Co-defendant Charles Erickson is serving a 25-year prison sentence.

Ferguson's attorney, Kathleen Zellner, says her client is innocent and she is gathering new evidence against another possible suspect.

Nixon's spokesman, Scott Holste, says the governor has never granted a criminal pardon.

The Daily Tribune reports Missouri's Board of Probation and Parole will investigate the case and submit a report to Nixon.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities have arrested two men suspected of shooting a St. Louis man after he answered a Craigslist ad about a car.

Officers arrested the men Thursday, one day after the shooting happened.

The victim saw an ad for a used car on Craigslist and went to the city's north side to look at it. Police say two men approached his car as he pulled up to the home. One of the men began firing shots into the victim's vehicle.

The victim was able to drive to an auto parts store to get help. He was shot several times. Two people who were in the car with him weren't injured.

Police Chief Sam Dotson urged people "to always use caution when conducting business online."

A St. Louis man faces charges because he doesn't handle rejection well.

Police say Ronald Burns approached a woman in a South St.. Louis store and asked for her number. When she said no, Burns allegedly followed her out of the store and robbed her at gunpoint. Burns now faces several charges in connection to the incident.

A man was found shot in South County this afternoon.

Police say the man was found around 12:30 on Old English Road near the River Des Peres. The victim was taken to the hospital in unknown condition.

 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is ordering flags to be flown at half-staff at state buildings in Boone County and at corrections facilities across the state in honor of the slain Colorado prison director.

Tom Clements, 58, was a Missouri corrections official for over three decades before taking the top prisons job in Colorado. He was shot and killed at his Colorado home March 19.

He oversaw Missouri's 21 adult correctional facilities before he left to take the top Colorado job in 2011.

While working for the Missouri prison system, Clements lived in Columbia. State of Missouri and U.S. flags will fly at half-staff on Friday until sunset. A 4 p.m. memorial service is scheduled for Friday at Woodcrest Chapel in Columbia.

Police have released a person of interest in the case of a woman found dead in south St. Louis Sunday morning.

Police found 47-year-old Aretha Robinson in the alley behind the 2200 block of South Jefferson. The coroner determined Robinson was strangled. Officers picked up a person of interest, but have released the person without filing charges.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Police in St. Louis are searching for five men after a woman was killed during a robbery.

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The crime happened Monday night. Police say 39-year-old Glenda Jackson and two others were robbed at gunpoint by five assailants. One of the suspects shot Jackson in the chest as she tried to take back the stolen property.

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The suspects ran from the scene. Jackson was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) - A man accused of using a prosthetic penis to try to pass a drug test has been arrested in eastern Missouri.

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Authorities say 34-year-old Sydney Levin was submitting a urine sample last week as part of his probation when an officer allegedly spotted him using a prosthetic known as a Whizzinator. The prosthetic is advertised as a "discreet" device that includes synthetic "medical grade urine."

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KMOV-TV reports that Levin, of Lake St. Louis, was charged last week with possessing a forging instrument. He was arrested and released after posting $25,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty Monday.

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Authorities say Levin's probation required him to submit a urine sample as part of drug test. He was on probation for possession of a controlled substance and felony stealing.

NEW LONDON, Mo. (AP) - Authorities in the northeast Missouri town of New London are searching for the man who shot a child with a blow gun.

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The Hannibal Courier-Post reports that the incident happened Monday. The boy, who is about 10, had a tetanus shot and is OK.

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Police Chief Brad Sanders says two boys were walking along a street when a pickup truck approached. Someone inside the truck fired a dart, about 3-4 inches long, and it struck one of the boys in the arm.

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The weather was cold and Sanders says the boy's heavy coat prevented more serious injury.

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The boys ran to Casey's General Store where store manager Arlene Hudson tended to the injury until emergency crews arrived.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois jury has acquitted one of four people who had been accused in the 2011 stabbing death of a Georgia man.

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The Belleville News-Democrat reports that 39-year-old Christopher Mays of Caseyville was found not guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder and felony murder.

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Authorities say 38-year-old Melvin Gregory moved to the area from Conyers, Ga., to live with his girlfriend. After those two got into an altercation that involved Mays and two other defendants, Gregory's body was found in August 2011 on the side of a road by horseback riders near Cahokia.

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The three other defendants have pleaded not guilty and await trial.