FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Preliminary autopsy results show two Poplar Bluff, Mo., men likely died from carbon monoxide and smoke resulting from Sunday fires at their homes.
On Wednesday, Dr. Russell Deidiker performed autopsies on the bodies of Edward James and Tommy Eugene Younger at a Farmington hospital.
James died at 11:22 a.m. Sunday at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.
Earlier in the day, Butler County firefighters had found the 66-year-old man in his burning home in the 100 block of Mozart Lane. The fire had been reported there at about 3:25 a.m.
Later in the day on Sunday, Poplar Bluff firefighters removed Younger from his burning apartment at 712 Poplar St., having responded there at 10:43 p.m.
Younger, 57, was pronounced dead at about 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Poplar Bluff hospital.
"Preliminary autopsy findings show both died from complications resulting from the fires, likely due to carbon monoxide and smoke," explained Butler County Coroner Andy Moore.
Samples, he said, were taken from both men for toxicology analysis, and the final autopsy reports are expected to be completed in about four to six weeks.
According to earlier reports, James was sleeping in a basement bedroom when multiple fires allegedly were set on all three levels of his home.
James' wife, Freeda, and stepgrandson, Brett Wade Payne, also were in the home at the time of the fires.
An investigator with the State Fire Marshal's Office ruled the fires had been intentionally set.
The ensuing investigation led to the arrest of Payne. The 29-year-old was charged with the Class A felonies of first-degree arson and first-degree murder.
He, along with Tara Janae Maxfield, were to appear in court today before Associate Judge John Bloodworth.
Payne is to appear with his attorney, while Maxfield is to be arraigned after being charged in connection with the fire at Younger's apartment house.
A resident of the 200 block of Alvin Street, Maxfield is accused of setting fire to a blanket and couch on the front porch of the home, which had been added on to and converted into three apartments.
The 41-year-old woman is charged with Class A felonies of second-degree murder and first-degree arson and four Class B felonies of first-degree assault.
Maxfield is accused of assaulting Paul E. Boyer, Tony Frymire, Stephanie Kiper and Jodi Blackmore, who were inside the other apartments at the time she allegedly set the fire.
Boyer, according to earlier reports, was trapped by the flames and "resorted to jumping from a second-story window to the ground, which was approximately 20 feet below," Poplar Bluff Police Detective Andy Cleaveland wrote in his probable-cause statement.
Boyer, he said, suffered minor injuries, as well as severe smoke inhalation, which required medical treatment.
Cleaveland said Frymire, Kiper and Blackmore had been trapped in a first-floor apartment and escaped through a window by removing a window-mounted air conditioning unit.
The home reportedly only had one entrance on the front porch.