Judge Declares Mistrial Because of Lack of Jurors

A new trial date will be set for a suspect in the deaths of two southeast Missouri couples after a mistrial was declared because not enough jurors could be found who were neutral on the death penalty.

Keith Boyles, of Doniphan, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the 2010 deaths of the two couples whose bodies were found in their burning homes.

The Daily American Republic of Poplar Bluff reports the mistrial was declared last week in Ste. Genevieve County. The jury would have been sequestered in Butler County for the trial.

Boyles is accused of killing Gladys Irene Piatt and Loyd Eugene Piatt of rural Doniphan. The bodies of Edgar Atkinson and Bonnie Chase were found in their Current View home about three weeks later.