11/20/2003 Earth City, Missouri Man on Trial for Murder of Ex-Girlfriend in Company Parking Lot

Scott McLaughlin is on trial for the murder of Beverly Guenther, 45, which alledgely took place in the parking lot of her workplace on November 20th, 2003. The police testified that they found the suspect’s car, the victim's blood and a broken knife handle on that parking lot the night she disappeared. The judge has also allowed evidence of her previously made statements stating that she was repeatedly harassed by McLaughlin by phone and in person from Oct. 28 to Nov. 12, 2003 and that at one point, he jumped out of the bushes at the same parking lot. Guenther was scheduled to testify against McLaughlin in Lincoln County Circuit Court in the domestic case on Nov. 21, 2003, the morning after her disappearance. McLaughlin also had prior convictions and is a registered sex offender.