Kenneth J. Ritrovato Jr. of Ste. Genevieve pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison today (May 15) at the Jefferson County Courthouse for the 2009 stabbing murder of Chester A. Scherer following a party in the De Soto area.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Forrest Wegge said Div. 4 Circuit Judge Mark Stoll heard Ritrovato's guilty plea and then sentenced him to 16 years in prison for second-degree murder and four years in prison for armed criminal action. The sentences are to run consecutively.
Wegge said he did not know how much credit Ritrovato will be given for time served.
"That will be up to the Department of Corrections," he said.
Scherer, 53, Ste. Genevieve, was reported missing after attending a party Aug. 7, 2009, in the De Soto area. His body was found with multiple stab wounds Aug. 31, 2009, near Upper Plattin Road in the De Soto area.
Ritrovato, now 37, was arrested for the murder and a Ste. Genevieve woman, Angela F. Parke, now 35, was charged with the class D felony of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. She is scheduled to appear June 18 for trial before Div. 14 Associate Circuit Judge Timothy Miller.
Witnesses reported seeing a man and a woman washing a large amount of blood from the interior of Parke's 1998 Dodge Durango on Aug. 8, 2009. Parke reported the vehicle stolen to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on Aug. 10, 2009, and it was found burned the same day in St. Louis. The St. Louis Fire Department reported the vehicle had been intentionally set on fire.
Assistant prosecuting attorney Travis Partney handled Ritrovato's case for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
"It was our first opportunity to have this case resolved," Wegge said. "We are pleased to provide some closure for the victim's family."
Ritrovato pleaded guilty to unrelated federal counterfeiting charges in May 2009 and was sentenced Aug. 17 of that year to a two-year federal prison term.
--Kevin Carbery
