Five colleagues of a former Boone County medical examiner are challenging his findings as a Kirksville man seeks a new trial in a woman's 1997 death.
Former medical examiner Jay Dix, who died in 2002, ruled that Wendy Wagnon died from suffocation. That led to the conviction of Jessie McKim and James Peavler in 1999.
Peavler died in prison, but now McKim has obtained sworn testimony from five pathologists who say Dix made the wrong diagnosis. They instead cite Wagnon's death from a methamphetamine overdose. The group includes the current Boone County assistant medical examiner, who worked under Dix.
A Cole County judge is scheduled to hear an update in McKim's post-conviction appeal on Monday.
