Man charged with attempted murder in house blast

BELLEVILLE -- A Belleville man is accused of trying to kill his wife and their 5-year-old daughter with natural gas moments before their house exploded.

St. Clair County prosecutors charged 44-year-old Gary Smith with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of unlawful restraint.

Smith is alleged to have bound his wife by the hands and feet and detained her in the kitchen with their daughter May 2nd, then disconnected the gas line from the oven in hopes of asphyxiating the two.

But the wife and daughter fled unharmed moments before the explosion.

Bond is set at $750,000 for Smith, who's jailed in Missouri's St. Louis County awaiting extradition after being released from a hospital there Monday.

Court papers don't list an attorney for him.