Man Charged With Murder Faces New Morals Charge

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ A McAlester man awaiting trial on charges he murdered his wife now also faces two misdemeanor morals charges. <br/><br/>Michael Erick Stachmus, 35, pleaded not guilty on Thursday

Saturday, September 29th 2007, 7:21 pm

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ A McAlester man awaiting trial on charges he murdered his wife now also faces two misdemeanor morals charges.

Michael Erick Stachmus, 35, pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Pittsburg County District Court to attempted assault and battery and outraging public decency.

Prosecutors contend that in December 2005, Stachmus placed ``semen on a straw in a cup'' that belonged to a woman working in a McAlester office, according to court documents. The woman, Jessica Lynn Rafeal, had left the cup on her desk while running an errand.

When she returned, she noticed a substance dripping from the end of the straw, McAlester Police Detective Shawn Smith said.

McAlester police sent the substance to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for testing, Smith said. The OSBI identified the substance as semen.

After Stachmus was arrested this February and charged with first-degree murder in the November 7 death of Regina Stachmus, 33, police obtained DNA samples from Michael Stachmus.

The OSBI matched the DNA from the semen on Rafeal's straw to Michael Stachmus, leading Pittsburg County District Attorney Jim Bob Miller to file the new charges.