Not Guilty Plea in Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital Murder

A Sedalia man charged with killing a fellow VA hospital patient in Columbia has pleaded not guilty and plans to cite mental illness in his defense. Thirty-three-year-old Rudy Perez Junior was arraigned yesterday in Boone County Circuit Court. He is charged with first-degree murder in the February 1st death of 78-year-old Robert Hill of Warsaw at Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital.