Suspect in 1993 child killing pleads not guilty

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – A man accused of killing a 9-year-old Missouri girl in 1993 has pleaded not guilty.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 62-year-old Earl Webster Cox entered the plea Monday in St. Charles County. He is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual abuse.

Angie Housman disappeared from her suburban St. Louis school bus stop in November 1993. Her body was found nine days later in a St. Charles County wildlife area. She had been sexually assaulted, starved and handcuffed. Investigators believe she died from exposure hours before she was found.

Cox is a convicted pedophile who ran an international child pornography ring. He was arrested in Angie’s case in June. Prosecutors said previously undetected DNA found on her clothing matched the DNA of Cox.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com