KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffMurder Charges Filed Against Couple In Double Homicide

Murder Charges Filed Against Couple In Double Homicide

By Julia Bruck - bio | email

WEST FRANKFORT (KFVS) - Murder charges have been filed against the couple in that deadly shooting in West Frankfort.  Franklin County State's Attorney Tom Dinn filed the charges against Michael Schaller and Afton Ferris Thursday.

They are being held in the Larimer County Jail on felony weapons charges filed by Dinn two days earlier.  

Officers found the two a long way from the scene of the double murder in West Frankfort.  Police say Schallert and Ferris took off toward Cheyenne, Wyoming where they are believed to have family.

They made it more than a thousand miles before police caught them in Fort Collins, Colorado.  That is less than 50 miles from Cheyenne.

Back in West Frankfort, the couple's arrest seemed to be the talk of the town. Amber Treece said she heard of the arrests from a friend early Thursday afternoon.

"He told me that they found them and I was glad because it was right here," Treece said.

Treece lives next door to what was once the home of 28-year old Kandis Majors and 32-year old Terri Siebeck.  Treece said she cannot believe what happened just feet away.

"At least a month ago I saw one of the girls out there with a dog and I talked to her," Treece said.

Police found the bodies of Siebeck and Majors inside a home in the 200 block of North Douglas Street Monday afternoon.  Franklin County Coroner Marty Leffler said preliminary autopsy results show both women died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head from a small caliber gun.  He said results show they had been dead for several hours.  

Authorities started looking for Schallert and Ferris not long after officers found the women's bodies.  Franklin County State's Attorney Tom Dinn said US Marshals helped track the couple to a trailer home in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Officers there along with a SWAT team arrested Schallert and Ferris Wednesday night.

Thursday Morning West Frankfort Police Chief Jeff Tharp, along with an investigator flew, to Fort Collins to question the suspects and assist in that part of the investigation.

Late Thursday afternoon Dinn charged the two with first-degree murder. Dinn alleges the couple killed Majors and Siebeck on Sunday October 18.  Bond for Schallert and Ferris is set at two million dollars.

Dinn said while it is not clear when Schallert and Ferris will be brought back to Southern Illinois, he said they will stand trial in the Franklin County.

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