ST. LOUIS _ As an accused murderer made a brief court appearance Wednesday in Clayton, Mo., a Catholic Supply store that was the scene of the brutal attack 16 days ago reopened for business.
The doors to the store, in a strip mall on Manchester Road, were opened at 9 a.m. Wednesday, as a bevy of TV reporters looked on. Four or five customers came in the first 10 minutes to show their support. Store officials asked the media to stay outside.
On a sidewalk just outside the store sat a makeshift memorial of roses, some days old and wilting, and a figurine of a snowman playing the piano. One woman paused for a moment near the flowers and made the sign of the cross.
The reopening came one day after Archbishop Robert Carlson blessed the store and prayed with police and relatives of victims.
A police chaplain who attended Tuesday's blessing of the store, Byron Watson, said the private gathering had a common theme: "Evil will not win."
Thomas Bruce, 53, of rural Jefferson County, has been charged with first-degree murder and multiple counts of sodomy, armed criminal action, kidnapping, burglary and tampering with evidence in the crime at the Catholic Supply store. He is being held without bail.
Bruce entered the store pretending to be a customer on Nov. 19, officials say. He left, then re-entered with a gun, prosecutors say. He ordered the three women in the store to the back of the store and made them take their clothes off at gunpoint. He forced two victims to perform sex acts at gunpoint, and tried to do the same with Jamie Schmidt, a customer from House Springs, killing her when she refused, authorities say.
Schmidt, 53, may have been there to buy supplies for a project to crochet rosaries for fellow parishioners at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in High Ridge, where she was in the choir, a friend said.
A business card Bruce left with a woman at another business in the strip mall led investigators to him. The woman at the business recognized the description put out of the attacker, but had thrown out the business card. It was dug out of the trash and led to Bruce's arrest two days after the attack.
On Wednesday, Bruce appeared in court for a routine hearing. He was led into the courtroom of Associate Circuit Judge Robert Heggie at about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Bruce was wearing street clothes _ a dress shirt and khaki pants _ but his hands and feet were shackled.
Two jail officers sat behind him in the jury box as he waited for his hearing to start. Brice Donnelly, a public defender, represented Bruce in the brief appearance. Heggie set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 23.
"We look forward to reviewing the evidence the state has," Donnelly said. Bruce will plead not guilty, he added.
About the same time as the hearing, the store reopened.
"The recent events at our Manchester store have been devastating to the Catholic Supply family," Catholic Supply president Dan Stutte said in a written statement on Wednesday. "This location is now reopened so we can continue to fulfill our mission and help our staff, customers and community cope with this senseless tragedy and begin the healing process."
Stutte added: "We thank the community for your outpouring of prayers, love and support."
Watson, the chaplain for St. Louis County Police Department who was part of the blessing at the store Tuesday, is a retired police sergeant with 35 years in law enforcement.
"I walked around the store and it was an eerie feeling, it really was to actually be in the store itself knowing this is where the young lady lost her life," Watson said.
But Watson said he also felt a sense of strength and determination. Employees he spoke with felt "they weren't going to allow this man to win," Watson said.
Attendees of Tuesday's private ceremony inside the store included the archbishop, members of the Catholic Supply family, employees who worked at other stores and family and friends of the victims, Watson said. The precinct captain and detectives who made the arrest were there, too.
Carlson blessed the store and talked about healing, then asked Watson to say a prayer. Watson said he ended his prayer saying, "Evil will not win."
Catholic Supply has locations in St. Louis city and O'Fallon, Mo. Watson said he had talked briefly with the store's owner, who admitted his gut reaction after the killing was to shutter the store for good at the Manchester location.
"But then he started getting support and cards and calls and condolences from all over the world," Watson said, "and he said this outpouring of community support was encouraging him to keep the store open."
