Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis

Search warrants detail what was found in abductor's cabin

BY JOEL CURRIER • jcurrier@post-dispatch.com | 636-255-7210 | Posted: Friday, July 16, 2010 12:15 am |(28) Comments

Photo provided by the Lincoln County (Mo.) assessor's office.Paul S. Smith was living in this structure in Hawk Point, Mo.

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Related Stories

• Police link child abductor to homicide of Hawk Point garage owner

Alisa Maier abduction: Timeline of events

8 p.m. Monday • Alisa Maier is abducted from her front yard in Louisiana, Mo.

9 a.m. Tuesday • Paul S. Smith buys cigarettes and children's clothing from a Walmart in Troy, Mo.

9:45 p.m. Tuesday • Police discover Alisa abandoned at a Fenton car wash.

4 a.m. Wednesday • Alisa and her parents arrive at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

4:30 p.m. Wednesday • Smith fatally shoots himself when confronted by police.

1:25 p.m. Thursday • Alisa returns home to Louisiana with her family.

HAWK POINT • The day after Paul S. Smith abducted 4-year-old Alisa Maier from the front yard of her home in Louisiana, Mo., he brought her to a decaying cabin in Hawk Point where he introduced her to a neighbor as his nephew.

Search warrants reveal items taken from abductor's property

(KMOV) -- Police executed four search warrants on the property where Paul Smith had been living and his car Friday.

Smith kidnapped 4-year-old Alisa Maier from her home in Louisiana, Missouri on July 5. He is also accused of murdering a Hawk Point garage owner.

Inside his house, police found brown hair and scissors, children’s clothing and a book called, “Encyclopedia of Serial Killers.”

Ammunition, spent shell casings and a 380 caliber handgun linked to the murder of nearby garage owner, Jeff Smith, were also found in the house.

Other items found were from burglaries in Lincoln and Pike Counties including the drugs katemine and Phenobarbital stolen from a veterinarian.

Police found children’s clothing including underwear, shirts and shorts in the car that Smith was spray painting a different color when police confronted him at his home.

That clothing was purchased at Walmart. Along with clothes, Smith purchased cigarettes which required the clerk to get his date of birth. The police were able to find Smith using crime matrix software ultimately matching Smith and the surveillance footage.

The affidavit also says Smith's neighbor was introduced to Alisa as Smith's nephew the afternoon of July 6th, just hours before her release in Fenton.

Smith shot himself as police approached him at his home on July 7. He died on July 8.

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Police link child abductor to homicide of Hawk Point garage owner

By SUSAN WEICH • sweich@post-dispatch.com > 636-255-7207 | Posted: Friday, July 9, 2010 11:08 am

Detectives with the Major Case Squad said this afternoon that child abductor Paul S. Smith is connected to Saturday's murder of a Hawk Point garage owner.

Photo provided by the Lincoln County (Mo.) assessor's office.Paul S. Smith was living in this structure in Hawk Point, Mo.

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Related Video

Video: Burnouts honor Jeffery Smith at funeral

Hundreds of friends and family members of Jeffery "Smitty" Smith show up at his funeral in their hot rods and muscle cars. The mourners stopped in front of his business on their way to the cemetery where he was murdered to do burnouts to honor Smith .

Preliminary ballistics tests showed a match between a gun Smith had and the bullets that killed businessman Jeffery "Smitty" Smith.

Detectives said the gun used in the homicide was not the same weapon Paul Smith used to kill himself on Wednesday. The caliber of the murder weapon was not released.

Lincoln County Prosecutor John Richards said the gun was stolen in a burglary in Pike County last month. He said his office has no information that would lead to charges against anyone else for the murder or the burglaries.

Our earlier story:

HAWK POINT, Mo. -- Detectives discovered ammunition under the Lincoln County cabin home of child abductor Paul S. Smith that they believe is the same make and model of the ammunition used in a shooting death in the area Saturday night, a source close to the investigation said Friday.

Search continues in Lincoln County man's slaying

The Lincoln County Major Case Squad was still looking Monday for the person who shot an auto shop owner outside his Hawk Point garage late Saturday night. Jeffrey Smith was found unconscious outside his Smitty's Garage on Highway A at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. He died of a single gunshot wound to the head a short time later, police said. They have no suspects in the killing but have recovered a vehicle they believe was taken from the garage, said Deputy Cmdr. Mark Schimweg of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department. The vehicle was being analyzed for clues. Smith, 49, was a longtime local resident and business owner. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 636-528-8546, ext. 3222

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Man fatally beaten in Lincoln County

By Robert Kelly rkelly@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8345 | Posted: Sunday, July 4, 2010 7:00 pm

A man who died Sunday after being assaulted Saturday night outside an auto repair business at Hawk Point was identified as Jeffrey Smith, 49, the owner of the business.

Smith was found unconscious outside Smitty's Garage, 205 Highway A, by Lincoln County sheriff's deputies.

The deputies had been called there about 11:30 p.m. Saturday by someone who reported the man had been critically beaten. The Major Case Squad is investigating.

No suspects were in custody, but squad members said they were interviewing witnesses late Sunday. Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call the sheriff's office at 636-528-8546, ext. 3222.