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Man Arrested in Kansas Teenager's Death
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2007-06-07_D8PJUIEO0&show_article=1&cat=breaking ^

Posted on 06/07/2007 6:20:41 AM PDT by badpacifist

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) - A man seen on surveillance video leaving a store shortly before a teenager was abducted in the parking lot has been arrested, hours after her body was found in a park, authorities said. Edwin R. Hall, 26, was expected to be charged Thursday morning with premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said. Kelsey Smith, 18, had been missing since Saturday night, when she went to a Target store in this Kansas City suburb to buy a gift for her boyfriend.

Surveillance video showed her being forced into her car around 7:10 p.m., and the car drove off. It was found in a nearby mall parking lot about two hours later.

Police said Hall's vehicle matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith's car.

"I want to again express my condolences to the Smith family," Douglass said. "I realize that this is not the preferred conclusion. While we cannot give them their daughter back, we can at least give them justice."

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: deathpenalty; justicenow; kelseysmith
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To: varina davis

Do you have a link to that wire story?


81 posted on 06/07/2007 12:25:55 PM PDT by biffi
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To: biffi

Scroll down:

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - A man videotaped leaving a store shortly before a teenager was abducted in the parking lot was charged with murder Thursday, authorities said.

Edwin R. Hall, 26, was accused of premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the death of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith, the Johnson County Court Web site said. Bond was set at $5 million. He was due in court later Thursday.

Hall, who was being held in a jail in nearby Gardner, was expected to appear in court later Thursday by closed-circuit video, said Brian Burgess, spokesman for the Johnson County district attorney’s office.

The charges came a day after Smith’s body was found in the woods. She had been missing since Saturday night, when she went to the Target store in this Kansas City suburb to buy a gift for her boyfriend.

Surveillance video showed her being forced into her car around 7:10 p.m., and the car driving off. It was found in a nearby mall parking lot about two hours later.

Police Chief John Douglass said Hall appeared to be the same person shown in the video leaving the Target soon after Smith. He was wearing a white T-shirt, sneakers, shorts and a goatee.

“This community has lost a vibrant and promising life, and a family has suffered unimaginable tragedy,” said Phill Kline, prosecutor for Johnson County.

Police said Hall’s vehicle matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith’s car.

“I want to again express my condolences to the Smith family,” Douglass said. “I realize that this is not the preferred conclusion. While we cannot give them their daughter back, we can at least give them justice.”

Detectives said a tip led them to Hall, of nearby Olathe.

If convicted, he would face a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the murder charge and more than 12 years for aggravated kidnapping, Burgess said.

Douglass said police had received more than 500 tips in the case and had questioned numerous people, including Hall, who was arrested at the end of his interview Wednesday.

Douglass said there was no evidence that Hall and Smith knew each other. He declined to offer a motive for the attack or to specify whether investigators had determined that Smith was killed in Kansas, where the murder charge was filed.

Police found Smith’s body in a wooded area near Grandview, Mo., about 20 miles east of the Target store. Authorities have not say how she died.

Officers had been searching the lake area since Tuesday after tracing signals from Smith’s cell phone. Investigators isolated two signals from an area in south Kansas City, Mo.

Hall and his wife, Aletha, and a 4-year-old son lived in south Kansas City, Mo., earlier this year.

“Just a nice young family,” former neighbor Sarale Russ told The Kansas City Star. “Nothing unusual.”

Before a memorial service Wednesday evening, Smith’s father, Greg Smith, thanked the hundreds of volunteers and everyone else involved in the search for his daughter.

“She could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends,” Smith told the gathering, fighting tears.

“Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched,” he said. “She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time.”


82 posted on 06/07/2007 12:46:22 PM PDT by varina davis
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To: agere_contra

I agree, facts are sketchy so far. All we know is the guy has been arrested for the crime. Emotional crimes of this nature have a high wrongful conviction rate that doesn’t serve anybody including the victims and their families. What I’d be most interested in is whether the guy has a record for violence. One of the big warning signs when the authorities get the wrong guy is the lack of a prior record for violence. People that do something like that build up to it.

Most important is that unless the case against this guy is absolutely overwhelming, parallel investigations towards other potential suspects must continue. Too often these investigations develop tunnel vision too early due to public pressure to lynch somebody. If you resume investigating years later if the guy is acquitted then the trail will probably be dead and there may be further victims.

As well in these cases it is important to take a good look at the tipster. This case smells funny. Doesn’t mean they are wrong, but driving a body or possibly a resisting person 20 miles is a big risk. What if he got pulled over by a cop and had blood in the vehicle? Was the drive to bring the victim to a place close to home where the killer was comfortable, or was it an effort to misdirect the investigation?

I’ll suspend judgment until I see what they’ve got. Too often in these cases the authorities lose objectivity and screw up. Whoever the killer is, make sure we nail the bastard.


83 posted on 06/07/2007 12:51:54 PM PDT by Boccaccio
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To: corlorde

Right on. I always tell people, as a female and a mom, I would never NOT have a loaded gun in my house at all times (granted, in a safe). That’s not to say in this case Kelsey would have had time to use it; it is possible to be surprised...but I am so tired of hearing this mantra from females: ‘Oh, I’m too afraid of guns to own one. I’m afraid it would be used against me.’ Why? I don’t get this? Do they think someone would grab it out of their hands and shoot them with it? If an intruder or attacker is close enough to grab your gun, they’re close enough to be shot.


84 posted on 06/07/2007 2:47:29 PM PDT by Catattack
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To: varina davis

Oops! Thanks Varina!


85 posted on 06/07/2007 4:11:32 PM PDT by biffi
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To: varina davis

Oops! Sorry. Thanks Varina.


86 posted on 06/07/2007 4:11:34 PM PDT by biffi
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To: varina davis

Thanks. Not sure how I overlooked that when I read it.


87 posted on 06/07/2007 4:28:02 PM PDT by biffi
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To: savedbygrace

My heart goes out to this family. We too have an 18-year-old named Kelsey and live a few miles from where Kelsey Smith’s body was found. The Kansas City Star published these safety tips for everyone Wednesday morning before Kelsey’s body was found. (My comments are added in parens.) Parents, talk to your children, especially your teenage daughters—they often are clueless about how very, very bad and sick these guys are.
Try to shop with someone. Most attackers will be discouraged if you have company.
If you must shop at night (or work a night job), park in a well-lighted area, the closer to the door the better.
Avoid parking next to objects such as walls or shrubs that keep your car from being seen or provide a place for someone to hide. (If you work a night job, ask for an escort to your car from a manager or trusted co-worker. If no one is available when you are ready to leave, wait until they are free.)
WALK WITH YOUR HEAD UP. Don’t be distracted by talking on the phone or rummaging for keys. (When you leave a building, scan the parking lot ahead and on either side of you. If you suspect someone is/has been following you, stop, turn around face them, get a good look at them with attitude and go back into the building. Ask for help or tell someone that you are afraid or concerned. When you are shopping, pay attention to who is around you. Again, tell someone if you suspect being followed around a store or mall.)
Have your keys ready to enter your vehicle. Immediately lock your doors and have your windows rolled up when you enter your vehicle. (Organize yourself before you exit a store—purse, packages, keys. Put your packages into the front or back seat from the driver’s side immediately upon unlocking the door. GET in the car quickly. DO NOT mess around unlocking a trunk or back door—if you do this, you have become a ‘distracted’ target for an attacker. Your focus is NOT on getting in the car.)
If an attacker threatens you or tries to force you into a vehicle, yell loudly for help, resist getting in the car and run. (Fight for your life, there is no time to try and figure out who this person is and what they want...they WANT you! Too many teenage girls are afraid of hurting someone’s feelings especially if the person is trying to strike up a conversation or appearing to need help, etc. Don’t buy into it, just get in your car and lock the doors immediately and call 911. Lay on your horn if you are unable to get your car moving in any direction.)
Source: The Ali Kemp Educational Foundation defense program
God Bless the Smith family.


88 posted on 06/07/2007 4:48:37 PM PDT by amadashellmom
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To: amadashellmom

Great advice amadashellmom: Thank you for posting this great piece of information. We are praying for the Smith family and friends. We could add the following if I may:

Hold your keys like you would a knife, while you are walking to the car.

Use those keys as a weapon to the eyes, throat, jugular vein, theit sides, or head.

The eyes, throat and jugular vein are the best spots to aim at. I carry my keys to be used as a weapon from my car to the store, and when I leave the store to the car.

Throw your keys if you don’t use them as a weapon. The attacker will look to see where you threw the keys.

This gives you time to run, and hopefully you got a good look at him to descrine to law enforcement.

He wants you and the car. Keep car doors locked at all times. Don’t stop for anyone!


89 posted on 06/07/2007 5:42:28 PM PDT by biffi
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To: GLH3IL

NO, but there have been numerous other crimes that have generated from My Space. I’m shocked that an otherwise careful teen would have posted her picture and cell phone number there. CELL PHONE! I wonder if her parents knew?

My Space has figured in numerous sexual assaults, enticement, and stalking cases reported over the past 2 years. Also, police entrapment of sexual predators. Even if no crime emanates from use of the web site, why should we encourage our teens to frequent a site where the whole point seems to be banter with sexual innuendo?

I’ve never heard of a teen using My Space to study chess moves, or to research nuclear physics.


90 posted on 06/07/2007 10:24:02 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Paved Paradise
I just wish more people were paying attention.

Awareness of one's surroundings is the paramount first step in personal safety and protection, that's true.

91 posted on 06/08/2007 4:56:04 AM PDT by corlorde (New Hampshire)
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To: biffi

Thanks for your additional safety tips. If we can just get our daughters to pay attention to their surroundings at all times we would gain an important advantage over these evil predators. Unfortunately, they know that most teenage girls, especially those who are alone, are (naturally) preoccupied or distracted, usually by their cell phones. Although our daughters may not believe something as horrible as abduction and death could happen to them, it is time they wake up and understand that our world is filled with extremely tormented individuals who have no other purpose in life than to cause terrible pain and even death to the innocent.


92 posted on 06/08/2007 7:15:23 AM PDT by amadashellmom
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To: Paved Paradise

Oh for crying out loud...you are parsing hypothetical situations...


93 posted on 06/08/2007 1:12:44 PM PDT by auto power
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To: auto power

And you are giving people false ideas of what can or cannot help them in a situation that could be life-threatening. Better to be realistic than have a whistle or whatever silly thing you were advising that in most of these cases never works. Obviously you are a MAN. Women know better.


94 posted on 06/08/2007 1:51:39 PM PDT by Paved Paradise
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To: afraidfortherepublic

The issue centers on an excellent point you mentioned...did the parents know. All too often in todays society far too many parents have allowed the computer and video games to become the “baby sitters” of our kids. When we hire babysitters we should be checking references, meeting with the babysitter before introducing him/her to the kids to guage the character of the person we are allowing to supervise our kids in our absence.

Too few parents take the same time and effort to know what their kids are doing on the internet or in video games. This is not, and should not, be the role of government - well - unless you hold to Hillary Clinton’s perspective on kids and how we must all share in raising them.


95 posted on 06/08/2007 9:19:44 PM PDT by GLH3IL (This so called 're-deployment' is really a vote catching program. General Patton - 1944)
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