By RODNEY HART
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

MONTICELLO, Mo. -- Bizarre statements made by murder suspect Christopher Piersee and the description of a gruesome crime scene were revealed Tuesday in a preliminary hearing for the LaGrange man accused of killing his wife and infant son.

Piersee, 24, had his charges amended last week from second-degree murder to first-degree murder in the Feb. 4 deaths of his wife, Patricia "Tish" Yarbrough Piersee, 21, and their 5-month-old son, Landon, in their LaGrange residence.

If convicted of the murder of his wife, who was shot once in the forehead, Piersee could get the death penalty or life in prison. He could get up to life in prison if found guilty of killing his son, who died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Piersee will be arraigned May 7 in Monticello. He continues to be held without bond in the Lewis County Jail.

Lewis County Chief Deputy Rob Power testified about the murder scene after he arrived at 409 N. Main the morning the bodies were discovered.

Power said when he entered the residence that morning, Tish Piersee's father, Eric Yarbrough, was in the house holding a gun.

"I've got the (expletive deleted) in here," Power said Yarbrough told him.

Power said he followed a trail of blood from the entrance to a bedroom, where Tish Piersee was lying on her back with her arms up in a "surrender" position. Christopher Piersee was sitting naked on the bed, covered in blood, Power said.

A .357-caliber Magnum revolver was later recovered from the bed near where Christopher Piersee was sitting, Power said.

Power said the residence was "in disarray" and blood was smeared on walls. Power said he could make out the word "Lucifer" and "Michael" written in blood on a bedroom wall.

Lewis County Coroner Larry Arnold testified that Tish Piersee appeared to have a cross drawn in blood on her chest. Landon Piersee, laying in a crib nearby in the bedroom, had a cross drawn in blood on his forehead, Power said.

After getting Christopher Piersee out of the house and into a patrol car, Power said Piersee told him he had fired a gun in the air. Bullet holes were found in several walls inside the house, Power said.

Power said he asked Piersee while they were sitting in a patrol car if he had shot his wife. He replied, "Bullets wouldn't work, so I used a knife." Piersee also said that his wife had "been gone for four or five hours" and that he had used a knife to cut himself.

Power said Piersee told him his wife was "Lucifer," he was "Michael the Archangel" and Landon Piersee "the anti-Christ."

Power also said Christopher Piersee "made passionate love" with his wife before the killings. They were also "speaking in tongues," he said.

Power said Piersee wanted to take credit for killing his wife and son, but instead he told Power they had been killed by "the blood of Christ through Michael."

Power said he talked to Christopher Piersee's friend, Tyler Whitaker, who said the two smoked marijuana the night before the murder. There were no outward signs anything was wrong between Christopher and Tish Piersee, Power said.

Another friend of Tish Piersee's told Power that Tish was upset with her husband about credit card spending, but there were no other reports of marital discord, Power said.

Power also said Christopher Piersee told him there had been "a ferocious battle" between him and his wife the day of the murders.

"He said he knew it wasn't over, so he'd knocked over a table and gathered weapons," Power said.

Arnold testified that Tish Piersee had a single bullet wound to the forehead but no other apparent injuries. Landon Piersee had blunt force trauma to the forehead and fractures of his skull, Arnold said.

Piersee is being represented by David Clayton and Todd Scholze of the state public defender's office in Hannibal.

About 10 members of Tish Yarbrough's family were in the courtroom for the hearing. They remained quiet during testimony. Piersee showed little outward emotion while sitting at a table flanked by his attorneys.

Christopher Piersee was born in Keokuk, Iowa, and married Patricia Yarbrough in 2007 in Burlington, Iowa, authorities said. They moved to LaGrange in fall or early winter 2008.

-- rhart@whig.com/221-3370