COLUMBIA — Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a man accused of raping and killing a Wentzville teenager nearly 17 years ago.
Michael Dowell of Ferguson was charged with first-degree murder last year after a crime lab matched his DNA to a sample recovered from the clothing of 18-year-old Stephanie Hogland. Her partially naked body was found along a Lincoln County road in January 1991.
The case broke when Dowell submitted a DNA sample at the request of his probation officer for an unrelated crime.
The case has been moved to Boone County on a change of venue. A trial date has not been set.