Crime & Safety

Man Charged With Christmas Eve Shooting Due Back in Court

Paul Morrison is slated for a preliminary hearing today.

(Editor's note: Lake Saint Louis Patch interviewed Paul Morrison in in December of 2010.)

An O'Fallon man who allegedly shot his estranged wife's boyfriend on Christmas Eve morning is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon.

Paul J. Morrison has a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. in St. Charles County Circuit Court. Morrison, 44, has been charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm.

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Police say the shooting occurred before 5 a.m. Friday, Dec. 24, 2010.

Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department told Patch at the time of the shooting that Morrison gave investigators a statement implicating himself in the crime.

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"At 5:16 a.m. we received a call to come to  in Lake Saint Louis," said McGuire. "The call was in response to a gun shot victim."

The man shot was Dennis Vehlewald, 42.

McGuire said when deputies arrived on the scene Vehlewald was coherent and could speak with authorities. The shooting occurred at , where Morrison lived and worked.

Vehlewald told deputies he and his girlfriend, along with another male friend, had been Christmas shopping in the early morning hours. As they pulled into the long driveway upon arriving at the girlfriend's home, her husband drew a gun on the pickup truck carrying the trio.

McGuire said Vehlewald was shot through the passenger side window and hit in the back of the head and side of the face as the pickup truck was pulling away.

The victim's male friend was behind the wheel and the woman was sitting between them. No one else was injured.


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