A 53-year-old Missouri man is in custody on charges of first-degree murder after authorities say he killed his roommate and hid the body in a plastic barrel dumped in a river.
Daniel W. Russell faces charges of first-degree murder, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Michael A. Graham.
Graham was reported missing in February 2019. Human remains were found the following month inside a barrel along the Gasconade River near a boat ramp in Gasconade, about 90 miles west of St. Louis.
Investigators linked Russell to the crime through evidence including concrete poured in his garage that matched material inside the barrel. New Facebook messages connecting him to one of Graham's motorcycles led to formal charges this year.
Russell was arrested over the weekend by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. He is being held without bond in the Franklin County Adult Detention Center.
