By Marianna Riley of the St. Charles Post

Mr P testified in St. Charles County Circuit Court Wednesday that his Brother MR AP asked him to get rid of a knife and a pair of boots that he had hidden in the family’s dog house as well as a gun that was wrapped in a plastic bag in the Mr P’s freezer. "I sold it to a friend so that it wouldn’t be in the house," he told the court. That was part of the testimony of Mr P against his brother, Kurt Allen Perkins, who is standing trial for the murder of J. Harold Messler, a former St. Charles community activist.

Wednesday was the second day of the trial before Circuit Judge David Dalton. Perkins, 21, is being tried on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, stealing and armed criminal action. All the charges are connected with the murder. Perkins has pleaded that he is innocent of the charges by reason of mental defect. A second suspect, Mr B, 24, was charged with the same crime last month.

At an earlier preliminary hearing, for his brother, Mr P had testified that it was an accomplice who had first stabbed Messler and later cut his throat. In his testimony on Wednesday, Mr P described the night of June 9 - the night Messler was murdered. He said he had been at a party until 4 or 5 a.m. and then had gone to the house of a friend, who lived in Powell Terrace. At the time, Mr P was living with Kurt and their parents at 2115 North Third Street, he said. He said that he had been asleep at the friend’s house for only a short time when he was awakened by his brother and Mr B.

"Kurt said something bad had happened and to come home with him," Mr P said. Under cross-examination Mr. P admitted that he had been paid a total of $335 on 11 different occasions by the St. Charles Police. Defense attorney S. Lee Patton asked him if he had expected to collect a reward that had been offered by St. Charles citizens for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Mr M’s murder. Mr P said he had known about the reward but that he had never discussed it with the police.

Another witness called Wednesday by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney A. John DeVouton was M S, the young woman who had discovered Messler’s body and who lived with him prior to his murder. She told DeVouton that she and a girlfriend, M H, had rented a room for several months from Messler, but had moved out in May. The women’s apartment on Washington Street had plumbing problems, so the women had continued to return to Messler’s house to do their laundry and take showers, she said.

She told the court she had gone to Messler’s to take a shower about 6:30 a.m. June 9, when she discovered the body. She admitted to Patton that she and H had been evicted by Messler about a month before. Patton quoted police records saying S had said at that time, "Old man, you’re gonna pay for this." Messler was a widower with a reputation of aiding young people who needed help. He was a familiar face around City Hall, had served on several citizen’s committees and had worked to organize various neighborhood groups. He frequently testified at public hearings on issues involving his neighborhood. Messler was considered an advocate for booth the redevelopment of the North and the poor.