Charges Expected Monday in Manchester Meth Lab Explosion

Three people , including a Fenton man, have been charged following a meth lab explosion March 22 in Manchester.

According to the Manchester Police Department, charges are expected Monday in connection with the meth lab explosion in a Manchester home.

Three people were arrested the night of the explosion which sparked a fire in the basement of the home and sent the homeowner to the hospital to be treated for burns. 

"All of the arrestees were not from Manchester," Manchester Police Captain Charles Hunn tells Patch. "All of them came from surrounding communities."

Hunn said David Uland McClain, 32, of Hillsboro, Bruce Michael Sexton Jr., 35, of Fenton, and Ann Renee Magee, 46, of Cedar Hill, are all three charged with one felony count of intent to distribute/manufacture, one misdemeanor count of simple assault and one count of negligent burning or exploding.

"All three people have been charged. Now warrants will be applied for at the St. Louis County Prosecutores Office," Hunn said. He expects warrants to be issued Monday in connection to what he calls a "shake and bake" type meth lab.

Hunn said Sexton and Magee have been released pending warrants, but McClain remains in custody with Jefferson County authorities on prior warrants. Hunn was not sure if those warrants were for drug charges.

Linda Beard, the homeowner, was not charged in connection to the crime, but she was hospitalized and treated for minor burns. Patch spoke with Beard's son after the fire, but he declined to comment on the situation. However, he did say he was not home when the explosion happened and tells Patch his mother has been released from the hospital.

"We cannot connect the mother, but we are going to make some other connections and they're pretty obvious," Hunn tells Patch about the arrests. He said more details will be released when the warrants are issued. "You tell me how an adult allows people into their house, adults they don't know. I don't get it. Do you? Would you let an adult son drag three or four people into the house and go down into the basement?"

The house was condemned immediately after the fire.