Posted on 06/06/2007 9:53:32 PM PDT by peggybac
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- An arrest has been made in the homicide investigation of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith.
Late Wednesday night, police said Edwin R. Hall, 26, of Olathe, was being held in the Johnson County Jail in connection with the slaying of Smith.
Law enforcement crews combing a large wooded area near Longview Lake Wednesday found a body believed to be missing teenager Kelsey Smith, who was abducted from an Overland Park Target store parking lot Saturday night.
Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said Smith's body was found about 1:30 p.m. across the state line near Grandview, Mo., about 20 miles east of the abduction site.
Positive identification was pending, but Douglass said volunteer searchers could stop their work. He did not say how the woman was slain, but KMBC reported that there were signs of trauma to the body.
"As I understand she was found at a wooded area, but I can't say whether she was directly concealed by bushes," Douglass told reporters during an afternoon news conference.
(Excerpt) Read more at thekansascitychannel.com ...
This isn't the first time I've had the same thoughts as you, but mine included all willing and able-bodied men in the victim's family.
As my upbringing never advocated taking the law into one's own hands, a part of me can't justify such actions.
Yet my gut reaction is to beat the h**l out of them.
The alternative: a civilized trial by jury, at our expense, followed by probably a murder conviction, then years and years and years on death row, with appeal after appeal.
Though it's secondary to the horrendous crime, we'll pay for all of this beast's "rights".
Good work. He has an account at Reunion.com—doesn’t give any info or pics though. Has birthday as 10/15. Age same—26. I checked classmates.com but didn’t come up with anything.
The saddest part is the murderer will have more rights than poor Kelsey or her family.
I expect some bleeding heart attorney to plead he is a “victim” of something and should not be held accountable.
Our legal system is broken when criminals receive more sympathy and rights than victims and their families.
It isn’t “civilized” to pamper criminals and watch as our precious sons and daughters are picked off one by one to satisfy some perverted lust of criminals.
Devil’s Island also comes to mind.
Is that a pic of the suspected perp?
If so, he is a good match for the Kopetsky suspect.
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/120413.html
Great news! (Condolences to Kelsey Smith’s family and friends.)
Yeah, that’s his booking photo.
Your daughter is obviously of adult age and if she has common sense, she values her own life and that of her daughter.
My own Mother worried constantly. I would leave her house at night with the warning to lock my car doors, and which route I was not to take.
When my Dad went out to a store during the day, she estimated the time it should take him. They were in their 70s at the time.
If he wasn't back when she thought he would/should be, she went into worry mode.
I have a friend with the same fear problem. To somewhat relieve her OWN anxiety, she MUST say, "Be careful".
My Mother's excessive fears had a detrimental effect on me. They tended to erode my confidence in myself.
My youngest daughter will leave our house with her three children and drive, possibly through traffic, to her home a half-hour away. She does not leave with a "Be careful" from her Dad or me. She values her own life and that of her children. She doesn't need warnings from us.
If this is absolutely the guy he needs to be dispatched quickly, and I don’t mean multiple appeals and a $100 k lethal injection. I mean if he has a legitimate appeal, okay, one time, and then it’s over. Dig a 3x3, 14 ft deep hole, put him in it, fill it with dirt and spend the extra $98,000 on something useful. My heart aches for that family, and the boyfriend, I understand she had gone to Target to get a present for his birthday. You can tell a lot about a society by looking at its prisons and its criminal justice system. You can tell the better part of our society are lunatics.
Looking at your hypothetical scenario, which actually occurs in thousands of homes, how does the average person know the effects of an extremely bad environment on a growing child?
I, for one, can't even relate to that kind of upbringing.
In many criminal cases I've read of, my belief has been that abusive parents who messed up their child should be imprisoned along with him/her. They are equally culpable.
Newsflash! That's not how our justice system works. A murder conviction will see him sitting on death row for years to come. That is, if the convicting state HAS a death penalty.
If this is determined to be a federal crime, I don't know what the ultimate penalty would be.
He won't be deported to Mexico; we can scratch THAT thought.
Wouldn't a short rope on a normal sized tree work better?
I saw her father on Fox News last night. You could see the catastrophic suffering and pain in the mans’ soul. It brought tears to my eyes.
I pray that the good Lord comforts her family, friends and boyfriend.
I had a friend who did that. The would be abductor scrambled off to find the keys and my friend ran back to the store and called the police. It certainly worked in that case.
I know fear kicks in. I know people can freeze up in panic.
But when these situations develop. A person should try anything they can to get away. and you must make a quick decision if there is no other way out., you fight to the death. Scream, scratch, dig, bite, kick, elbow. Keep at it. Dont stop.
It is like WARFARE ! wage war on them.
These perverts in the United States make Osama Bin Laden look half way decent.
“Wouldn’t a short rope on a normal sized tree work better?”
I guess, but the song that came to my mind specifically called out the length of rope and type of tree (Toby Keith - Beer for My Horses)
All kidding aside, please pray for this family
This brings to mind what George Bush said during a debate in the 2000 campaign. If you hang them, one thing is certain, they won’t kill anybody else. This is why he’s been working to clear the federal bench of liberals. Richards and Alito is a positive step, with Thompson as the next prez that good work can continue.
And yes, judges/parole boards who let scum like this back on the streets should be held accountable. Judicial watch needs to do a better job of informing the public as to which of them are the worst felon-releasers.
This was a beautiful young girl, a life of promise, snatched away by bleeding heart liberals...a loss for all good people.
Wonder what his juvenile record looks like.
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