By RODNEY HART
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

MONTICELLO, Mo. -- Christopher Piersee is expected to plead guilty this afternoon to killing his wife and infant son in February in their LaGrange home.

"I'm telling everybody (in the media) they should be here," Lewis County Prosecutor Jake DeCoster said this morning.

DeCoster declined further comment and would not say if he or the Missouri attorney general's office has reached a plea deal with Piersee, who pleaded not guilty in May to charges that he murdered Patricia Yarbrough Piersee, 21, and Landon Piersee, 5 months, on Feb. 3.

A spokesman in the public defender's office in Hannibal said neither of Piersee's attorneys, David Clayton nor Todd Schulze, would comment on today's scheduled motions hearing.

However, sources told The Herald-Whig that Piersee is expected to plead guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for having the death penalty removed as a possible sentence. DeCoster has not previously said whether the state would seek the death penalty.

Judge Richard Steele will oversee today's hearing, which was scheduled to address motions for a change of judge and change of venue. If Piersee pleads guilty, an assessment report would have to be filed and sentencing scheduled for a later date. Steele has the discretion to accept or reject negotiated pleas.

A hearing earlier this month was continued so attorneys could discuss possible plea negotiations.

DeCoster previously said the final decision on whether a plea deal will be reached or the case will go to trial rests with the Missouri attorney general's office, because it is a potential death penalty case.

If convicted of murdering 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.

Bizarre statements made by Piersee and the description of a gruesome crime scene were revealed during an April 21 preliminary hearing.

Lewis County Sheriff's Deputy Rob Power testified during the preliminary hearing about the murder scene after he arrived at 409 N. Main the morning the bodies were discovered. He 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 Patricia 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.

Power said he asked Christopher 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."

Arnold testified that Patricia 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, he said.

-- rhart@whig.com/221-3370