The murder of Kelsey Smith

Edwin R. Hall was near the jewelry counter in Target when he spotted Kelsey Smith.

She was there buying a present for her boyfriend. He was there looking for a victim.

"Nice legs, " Hall thought when he noticed the girl who had graduated from high school 10 days before.

When she turned and he saw her face, he thought she looked liked a 12-year-old. It was early in the evening of June 2, 2007. He narrowed

in.

On Wednesday, a packed Johnson County courtroom heard vivid details of what happened to the 18-year-old Overland Park girl, as Hall

unexpectedly pleaded guilty to kidnapping her, raping and sodomizing her and then strangling her with her own belt.

As Hall stood and said "guilty" to each of the charges -- capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape and aggravated sodomy -- Missey

Smith clutched pictures of her slain daughter.

When Hall said "guilty" the first time, she collapsed on the shoulder of her husband, Greg. After the fourth time, the two hugged and cried.

District Judge Peter Ruddick plans to sentence Hall on Sept. 16. The 27-year-old Olathe man will spend his life in prison with no chance of

parole.

After the pleas, District Attorney Phill Kline laid out the evidence he would have presented at a trial. Smith’s DNA was found on a stain

inside the zipper flap of Hall’s shorts. The chance that the DNA was anyone but Smith’s was one in over 280 billion.

Kline obtained the plea by taking the death penalty off the table. Hall also has waived all of his appeal rights, Kline said.

As part of the deal, prosecutors will dismiss charges in an unrelated case they filed against Hall in July 2007. In that case, Hall is

charged with two counts of aggravated indecent liberties for his alleged involvement in a consensual sexual relationship in 2004 with a

girl who was 14 at the time.

"Today is a victory for justice, but it’s not a cause for celebration," Kline said afterward at a news conference. "My hope is that Mr.

Hall’s name will be forgotten and the name of Kelsey Smith, who she was and what she did, will live on."

Smith’s family agreed. Her parents and three sisters -- she also has a younger brother -- stood with two dozen of Kelsey’s friends after the

hearing. It was just 13 months ago that the family searched for Kelsey for nearly four days before authorities found her body near Longview

Lake.

"Justice isn’t always fair, " Greg Smith said. "If it were fair, we’d have Kelsey back."

The hearing was supposed to be a routine one in which attorneys would argue whether the mid-September trial should be delayed. But after the

judge ruled Tuesday that prosecutors could seek the death penalty, ongoing discussions over a plea became more serious.

Hall’s wife, Aletha, was in the courtroom Wednesday, as she has been for most of his hearings. When Hall walked into the room, he looked at

her and smiled slightly.

The two have a young son whom neighbors said Hall was always attentive to before his arrest. Aletha Hall declined to comment after the

hearing.

Defense attorney Paul Cramm, whom Hall called even before he was arrested, said Hall was "very remorseful." He declined to elaborate.

Co-counsel Carl Cornwell said he and Cramm represented Hall for free. When Ruddick asked Hall if he felt he had effective counsel, he

answered yes.

Hall’s adoptive mother, Carol Hall, who has seen Hall twice since his arrest, said the plea was "a shock to us." A friend called her at her

Emporia, Kan., home Wednesday afternoon and told her the hearing was on television.

"I’m almost sick to my stomach, " she said in a telephone interview. "I feel for those people and I feel for his (Hall’s) son. I’m just

sick. He said he didn’t do it -- obviously he did. ... I pray for him."

Kline outlined for the court what happened the day Smith was kidnapped and killed.

Smith’s friends and family, and police officers from Overland Park and other agencies, filled the seats and stood in the aisle and against

the wall.

As Kline spoke, Smith’s family repeatedly cried. So did her friends, many of whom leaned on one another or clasped hands as new details

came out.

Hall dined alone at a Mexican restaurant near Oak Park Mall late that Saturday afternoon and left without paying. Just after 5 p.m., he went

to the Dillard’s at the mall. He later told authorities he was shopping for a gift for his wife.

"However, Mr. Hall was without monies, and the video does not show any shopping activity, " Kline told the court. Surveillance video from

Dillard’s shows Hall for the last time at 5:50 p.m.

A little more than an hour later, Smith pulled into the Target parking lot across the street from the mall. Seconds later, Hall’s truck

pulled into the same lot.

At 6:55 p.m., Smith entered the store. Not long after, Hall followed.

One minute later, Smith called her mother wanting to know where in the store the picture frames were. While she was shopping, Hall went near

the jewelry counter and noticed her, Kline said.

Then he followed her.

Hall saw Smith in the checkout line and left the store. He waited outside.

Surveillance video showed Smith walking to her car with packages and putting them in the passenger side. Then she walked behind her car to

the driver’s side.

After Smith opened the driver’s door, Hall ran up behind her and forced her into the car.

The car left the lot and turned west. Kline told the court that Hall threatened Smith by holding an air gun to the back of her head.

From Target, Hall took Smith to a wooded area near Longview Lake in southern Jackson County. Authorities found that location by tracking

pings on Smith’s cell phone.

He raped and sodomized Smith while she was alive, Kline said, citing previous testimony from Mary Dudley, the Jackson County medical

examiner who performed the autopsy.

Hall strangled her with the belt she wore as part of her uniform at a movie theater.

Defensive wounds showed Smith fought for her life.

"The death was particularly cruel and heinous in that death by strangulation requires several minutes during which the victim is

fearful of impending death, " Kline said.

The afternoon after Smith disappeared, a Missouri couple walking near Longview Lake were startled when a man matching Hall’s description

emerged from the woods near the walking path, Kline said. The site is about 45 yards west of where Smith’s body was found three days later.

The man was carrying a blue duffel bag, the couple said, and walked to a black pickup that had several wooden sticks, stripped of branches

and leaves, in the back.

Authorities found Smith’s body in a small hollow. She was nude, with most of her clothes 100 feet north of her body. Her belt was around

her neck.

Smith’s pink shirt was near the body and stained with bleach, as if someone had tried to destroy evidence, Kline said.

Across her body, in a woven style, were sticks stripped of leaves and branches.

Prosecutors had DNA evidence beyond the stain on Hall’s shorts.

Hall’s DNA was found on the steering wheel of Smith’s car. There was a one in 5.3 million chance that it matched someone besides Hall.

A swab of the driver’s side seat belt guide showed a 1 in 923.4 million chance that the DNA did not belong to Hall.

Investigators found a bloodstain on Hall’s left shoe. DNA tests showed that Smith could not be excluded as a match.

Carol Hall and her husband Don, of Emporia, adopted Edwin Hall when he was 7. The couple read a newspaper article about children up for

adoption and wanted to give him a better life.

Eight years later, after Hall was convicted in juvenile court of threatening his adoptive sister with a knife, he went back into state

custody. He never returned to his adoptive home.

After leaving juvenile custody when he was 18, Hall moved around, living in different parts of Kansas. Within a year, he married Aletha.

The two eventually moved to the Kansas City area.

After Hall’s arrest, Carol Hall told the Emporia Gazette: "You think you can give them love and all those things they didn’t get, like

support. It works with some, but with him, it didn’t."

Many young people who walked neighborhoods last June looking for Smith were in the courtroom wearing light blue "Kelsey’s Army" T-shirts. The

backs of the shirts read "We’re Still Here."

"She was a bright crayon in the box, " said Chris Harvey, who was in band with Smith at Shawnee Mission West.

Smith always had people’s backs, and she stuck up for her friends and even people she didn’t know well, said Megan Daugherty.

"Now, Kelsey, we have your back, " Daugherty said after the hearing."... Thanks for being there for us, Kelse."

Kline thanked authorities involved in the case, especially Overland Park police. Chief John Douglass said he remembered speaking with

Smith’s family the night Hall was arrested.

"We promised while we couldn’t bring her back, we would bring them justice, " he said. "Today, that justice was delivered."

Since her death, Smith’s family has started the Kelsey Smith Foundation to carry on her legacy. Their goal is to educate young

adults on how to avoid becoming crime victims.

"We don’t want anybody else to feel this pain, this suffering, " Greg Smith said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article10539872.html#storylink=cpy

Caylee

by Diane Fanning

Throughout the publication ofeight true crime books, I’ve heard from a lot of readers. Once in a while, I get what I consider is a slanted criticism. Some folks bash one of my books in an attempt to come to the defense of the perpetrator, telling me I am biased because I wrote that a convicted murderer is actually guilty. Other people simply do not want a book written about a particular case under any circumstances.

I collided with that reaction last week as I worked on a book about theCaylee Anthony case. I checked my inbox and found this email from Marty: “There is a rumor you have been given a contract to write a book on the Caylee Anthony story and her egg donor. Is this true?

If so, shame on you. Just another vulture profiting from this heinous crime. This poor child has not even been laid to rest and the vultures are circling. I will not purchase your books or anyone who tries to profit on the blood of sweet Caylee.”

I responded: “My objective in writing is to memorialize the victim so that all of my readers understand the great loss we as a society suffer when an innocent is killed through an act of violence. And to educate and empower my readers to limit the incidents of homicide.”

That’s when I learned why Marty was so distressed. She thought that the Anthony family would profit from my book and she suspected the family aided and abetted Casey. She was certain that I could not write about the story without the permission of the family.

That is one of the most persistent myths of true crime writing and it’s not true. When a story is news, a true crime writer, just like a newspaper or television journalist or a blogger can write about it—no permission needed.

Marty, though, did not believe me when I told her that I did not have a financial agreement with the Anthonys. Because of that, she was still angry and wrote: “Just disgusting. I intend on boycotting this particular book of yours, and any "sponsors" affiliated. I will also contact your publisher to convey my sentiments and I am gong to ask bloggers on "many" Internet sites to do the same. Get ready to be "bombarded". The public does not need you to tell us "Caylee's story".

Well, I was bombarded but not exactly as Marty imagined.

Only one other person sent a negative email. That woman wanted me to reconsider writing a book about Caylee. That’s another point where the reality of true crime writing calls the shots. I’d already signed a contract with my publisher. Once any writer signs, there is a legal obligation to produce a book. Changing your mind is not an option.

The rest of the flood of messages I received were positive—supportive not just of me but of the many other ethical people who write about crime in any medium. Stephanie’s email expressed that attitude but also praised this whole group: "I am a fan of Women in Crime Ink blog... I wanted you to know that I support your writing this book. Here's what I just recently posted:

‘This writer is a member of a fantastic group of women DEDICATED & DEVOTED to victims of crime.‘…I find it to be part of my personal integrity to financially support the work of highly devoted and ethical writers such as Diane Fanning. In other words, buying her book (or one like it that meets my standards) is my "vote" for responsible writing (and journalism) that is sensitive to the victim's sad story and attempts to explain in order to help others understand and be forewarned. I know that you would want some other family to gain insight that would prevent another precious little girl being murdered like Caylee, right? Well, only the GOOD books about this story will do so, not the shallow and sensationalized ones. And I believe D. Fanning is extremely ethical, responsible, and respectable. IMO.

‘Every time you read a news story about Caylee, someone is making money. Oh, well, news is different... No, it's not. It's just that news articles can only go so far. If you're like me, you hunt around for different sites, different articles, different authors of the articles to read about aspects of this case such as the psychology involved, about how the justice system in Florida works and is different from what I am used to, about the financial impact this case has had on the OCSO and the citizens of Orange County, about groups likeTX Equusearch, about the shadiness of Kid Finders, etc., etc. Well, a book can put this all together for us and perhaps draw some well-founded conclusions and thoughts and I am looking forward to reading such a book, by such a person as is a member of Women In Crime Ink.'”

Thank you, Stephanie! I’ve always been proud to be part of this incredible group of woman, but never more than now.

Writing true crime is challenging and, at times, heartbreaking work. We are often haunted by crime scene photographs, sickened by autopsy reports, threatened with law suits and revolted by some of the people we interview.
One of the things that keeps me going are readers like Stephanie who understand that knowledge is empowering and possesses the potential for saving lives. I write true crime books because I want to understand why these crimes happen and how I can protect myself and loved ones from becoming victims--and to share that information with my readers.

In short, I write true crime because I want to make a difference.

I can't do anything for Caylee but honor her memory with my words. But I hope that what I am writing about this little girl will one day be used by someone to protect the life of another innocent child.

Tommy Lynn Sells

by Diane FanningJust when I thought law enforcement had forgotten Tommy Lynn Sells, along comes a former deputy with Missouri's Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department asking about a long forgotten body. And once again, Sells' name was dropped as a possible suspect. I thought by now he’d been considered in every single cold case that remained open in his home state in the 1980s and 1990s. Apparently not.

Back when Sells was arrested, on January 2, 2000, investigators across the country dusted off files of cold cases eager to see if Sells was a possible perpetrator. After 48 Hours aired the show about the serial killer, Texas Rangers Johnny Allen and Coy Smith came into their offices to discover hundreds of requests from detectives all across the country wanting to know if Sells could have been in the right place at the right time to commit an unsolved murder in their jurisdiction.

The inquiries and interview requests continued to flood into Texas up to Sells' trial in September 2000, when he was convicted of the murder and sexual assault of Katie Harris and the attempted murder of Krystal Surles in Del Rio, Texas. Sells was sentenced to death.

Some law enforcement agencies no longer wanted to waste resources on looking at Sells—after all, unlike some states, Texas is very serious about the enforcement of their death penalty. Other investigators, though, who hungered to find closure for family members and satisfaction in their quest for justice, continued travelling to Texas to question Sells.

I fielded a lot of requests for information, too. I heard from detectives, family members, prosecutors, defense attorneys, private investigators, and some from uninvolved but curious true-crime buffs. Among the latter group, I received hundreds of emails about the Darlie Routiercase. Although she sits on Death Row for the murder of her two sons, many people still believe in her innocence. They wanted to know if Tommy Lynn Sells was in the Dallas area at the time of that crime. While there may be doubts about Darlie’s guilt, Sells had an ironclad alibi—he sat behind bars in a West Virginia prison. There was no way he was responsible for killing those two boys.

This summer, though, as Sells approaches the eighth anniversary of his death sentence, interest in the Death Row inmate seemed to have died down. The only question most people still asked was: Have they killed him yet?

Until this month in the boot heel of Missouri, that is. Renewed interest in a 1981 homicide case raised his name again. The remains of an unknown white male, aged 20 to 40 and ranging from 5-feet-nine to five-feet-eleven inches tall, were found in a wooded area on April 6, 1981. The corpse was clothed in green pants, a short-sleeved khaki shirt (above) and a pair of black loafers adorned with a buckle. His skull, however, was missing.

Two years and one week later, a mushroom hunter found the missing head in a nearby creek. In the area, there were only three missing men who fit the description of the victim. A comparison of dental records discovered no match to any of them. So, the remains and the clothing moldered away in a basement closet archive at the Southeast Missouri State University for the next two decades. Forgotten by all but one man.

Now he’s come forward, resurrecting the case, looking for justice. Will the authorities be able to tie it to Tommy Lynn Sells? The odds are stacked against them. In 1979 and 1980, when Sells wasn’t on the road, he was in Missouri. In 1981, though, his home base was Little Rock, Arkansas and he was just 17 years old. He has confessed to committing homicide at that young age but he never mentioned this case.

If not Sells, will they be able to identify anyone as the killer? Will they even be able to give the victim a name? It sounds unlikely after 27 years but scientists make a habit of transforming the impossible into the routine every day.

Forensic Science is an amazing and rapidly expanding field. What seemed like fantasy five years ago is now common forensic investigative technique in labs across the country. Who knows what microscopic trace evidence is nestled in the folds of his shirt or on the buckle of his shoe (above), waiting for a diligent individual to uncover.

One day, the unknown man in green pants may find justice after all.

California

by Robin Sax

Co-authored by Caroline Aguirre, retired parole agent

In late August 2009, the arrest of parolee Phillip Garridoexposed just how broken and dysfunctional the California Department of Corrections (CDCR) has become. Investigative findings, as published by California State Inspector General David Shaw and the State Attorney's General' office, concluded that a number of parole agents over a period of nine yearshad failed to do their jobs properly surrounding the parole supervision of Phillip Garrido. A registered sex offender, Garrido has been charged with the kidnapping and rape of Jaycee Dugard. To date, the state of California has paid out a sum of $20 million dollars to Jaycee Dugard. Numerous other law suits are pending in which CDCR is named as defendants.

Then there was John Albert Gardner, also a registered sex offender, who admitted earlier this year to the horrific rape and murder of both Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

As noted in the Investigative report findings by State Inspector GeneralDavid Shaw:

"This report concludes that during the department's parole supervision of Gardner, it did not identify Gardner's aberrant behavior, including unlawfully entering the grounds of a state prison, a felony as well as numerous parole violations. Had the department identified Gardner criminal act and parole violations, it could have referred them to the District Attorney's or the Board Of Prison Hearings for appropriate actions. Successful prosecution of Gardner could have sent Gardner back to prison , making it impossible for him to have murdered Amber Dubois and Chelsea King."

Right after the arrest of Phillip Garrido, Matthew Cate, Scot Kernan and Robert Ambroselli, top administrators for the CDCR, openly stated tonumerous news media outlets that parole agents had done a good job.

After the arrest of John Albert Gardner, these same administrators told the elected state officials and the news media that all of the parole records on John Albert Gardner (who was a discharged parolee at the time of his arrest for the murders and rapes in San Diego) had been destroyed. After the San Diego Union-Tribune confronted these same administrators about Gardner's prison central file (central files are never destroyed), then they all made public apologies, and the central file records were released to the news media. Multiple civil lawsuits have been filed naming the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as the defendants.

On July 24, 2009, 17-year-oldLily Burk was murdered by parolee Charles Samuel in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. Samuel admitted to the murder of Ms. Burk and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. CDCR has failed to address the issue of how parolee Charles Samuel, who on the date and time of the murder of Ms. Burk resided in a residential drug treatment program, was able to be out and about in the community?

A CDCR spokesperson told a news media reporter that Samuel had been given a written pass to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles on the date in question and that the assigned parole agent of the residential drug treatment program had verified all of the information on the request form for the pass. Only after the murder of Lily Burk was itdiscovered that the DMV was closed on the date in question (Friday) for state mandated work furlough days. Where is the internal affairs investigation on the parole agent?

On July 24, 2010, bride-to-be Chere Osmanhodzic was murdered in her home in the Valley Village area of LosAngeles. Parolee Omar Armando Loera was subsequently identified as the murder suspect as a result of DNA and was arrested in Mexico. Loera has been charged with the murder of Ms. Osmanhodzic. This is yet another case of a dysfunctional parole agency. Region 3 Parole Headquarters failed to verify if Loera had been deported to Mexico, in a timely fashion, upon his release from state prison.

As a result of his documented criminal history, Loera was classified as a high-control supervision case, and this verification should have been done immediately after his release from prison. Instead, individuals assigned to the Region 3 USINS unit waited three months before doing their job. These individuals also failed to update Loera's parole facesheet. The face sheet in question did not even have a photograph of Loera. If the parole administrators assigned to Region 3 had performed their assigned duties correctly, would Ms. Osmanhodzic be alive today?

CDCR failed to make up wanted parolee-at-large notices to distribute to local law enforcement agencies. As mandated by law, per the California Penal Code, parole agents must submit a request for an arrest warrant when a parolee classified as high-control supervision fails to report to the parole unit office within 24 hours of their release dates. This was not the case with Loera. Parole administrators have said that outside law enforcement can check the parole database and find out which parolees have outstanding warrants.

Now, I ask you, with over 120,000 parolees on active parole status within the state of California, do these parole administrators truly believe that police officers have the time to check each parolee's status? Or, do the administrators somehow erroneously believe police officers have a magic crystal ball?

On October 30 , 2010, parolee Christopher Orlando Pinn, armed with a TEC-9, attempted to kill a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. Pinn was subsequently arrested and faces criminal charges of attempted murder of a peace officer and possession of an assault weapon. A documented hard-core gang member, Pinn had as a special condition of his parole a ban on associating with gang members. Pinn was on parole for possession of controlled substance, a low-level, non-violent criminal offense, and was being supervised at one of the lowest levels of parole supervision.

On October 31, 2010, Halloween day, 5-year-old Aaron Shannon Jr. was proudly wearing his new Spider Man costume, dashing about in the backyard of his home located on East 84th Street, when he was gunned down by one or two suspected gang members. On November 5, the Los Angeles Police Department held a press conference where they announced the arrests of two suspects, 18-year-old Marcus Denson and 21-year-old Leonard Hall, both documented Kitchen Crip gang members. Each is to be charged with the murder of little Aaron Shannon Jr.

Let's take a good look at Leonard Hall. On the date and time of the horrific murder of this innocent small child, Hall was on active parole supervision for possession of a controlled substance and disregard for safety. As a result, he was on the next to the lowest level of parole supervision: control service out of the Huntington Park 2 parole unit. Also, as a special condition of parole, Hall could not associate with known Kitchen Crips gang members. That is what is so troubling surrounding his parole supervision level. On October 15, 2010, Hall was arrested for robbery as per parole documentation. No formal criminal charges were filed, and Hall was released from local custody on October 22.

Now, the question is did the assigned parole agent do a case review with the parole unit supervisor after Hall's release date of October 22? Review of Hall's parole face sheet notes that he is a documented hard-core Kitchen Crip gang member. Also noted in the problem area is a history of battery on a police officer. In the past, if someone was arrested on a serious or violent charge, even if no criminal charges were filed, once the parolee was released back into the community, then his supervision level would have been increased to a higher supervision level for at least a three-month period and then reduced once the parolee had remained free of any parole violations or arrests.

Is public safety no longer a concern and a priority for the CDCR? Reading through the complete court transcripts and depositions associated with the trial in the civil case of Hernandez vs. California Department of Corrections and Maria Franco (Maria Franco is the current acting head of Region 3 parole), you might be able to determine the CDCR/DAPO's mindset. It seems that the parolee classification ratings have a correlation to expenditures, namely that overtime costs are an issue, and lower classifications require less supervision.

One parole administrator has gone as far to state that less parole supervision can be a form of positive reinforcement in the long run and only enhance and encourage the parolee to remain free of involvement in new criminal behavior. Really!? As you can see with Parolee Hall, this lax parole supervision idea/policy can only lead to disaster. It allowed Hall to continue to associate with his homeboys, have possession of a loaded firearm, and then take the life of an innocent 5-year-old child.

Where is the public outcry on this parole supervision crisis? Where is the accountability? Why are these parolees not being properly supervised and monitored by parole agents? Where is the governor of the State of California on this? Why do these parole administrators continue to have their jobs? Shouldn't they be held accountable for these resulting disasters? How many more innocent people have to be murdered for the department to make changes? How many more innocent victims have to suffer at the hands of roaming parolees?