TOPEKA: Jury deadlocks in case of road-rage killing

A jury deadlocked Tuesday in the trial of a man charged with shooting and killing a motorist in a case of road rage.

Robert A. Gigger, 19, of Topeka, is charged with shooting John A. Lane, 20, on Oct. 11. Police said Gigger told them that Lane cut him and a friend off a couple of times and pointed a gun at them.

Gigger testified during his trial that it was his friend, Michael K. Mattox, 22, who shot Lane.

The jurors deadlocked after 10 hours of deliberations. After receiving a message from them late Tuesday afternoon, Shawnee County District Judge Jan Leuenberger dismissed them following a seven-day trial.

Dist. Atty. Robert Hecht said prosecutors hadn’t decided whether to try Gigger again.

Mattox faces the same charges and will be tried later.

JUNCTION CITY: Wife of publisher, columnist dies at 93

Mary Elizabeth Montgomery, a longtime columnist and the wife of newspaper publisher John D. Montgomery, has died at age 93.

Mrs. Montgomery died Sunday at Geary Community Hospital. She was born in Junction City on July 3, 1908, and attended Kansas University and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

She married John D. Montgomery on June 24, 1931. The Montgomerys returned in 1953 to Junction City where he was publisher of the family-owned newspaper, The Daily Union. Mrs. Montgomery wrote a weekly column for The Daily Union from 1955 to 1987. John D. Montgomery died in 1985.

Survivors include her son, John G. Montgomery, editor and publisher of The Daily Union; and her grandchildren, Michele Rowe of St. Joseph, Mo., John D. Montgomery II, editor and publisher of The Hays (Kan.) Daily News, and Grey Montgomery of Salem, Ore.

arkansas city: School board eyes new superintendent

The Arkansas City school board has selected Perry Perkins as the top candidate to fill the superintendent of schools opening.

The board unanimously agreed Monday to negotiate a contract with Perkins, who would begin duties as the new USD 470 superintendent starting next school year.

He would replace Jean Snell, who retires at the end of this school year. The selection would end a four-month search that involved 22 applicants for the position.

Perkins is associate superintendent for the Auburn-Washburn school district in Topeka, which has an enrollment of 5,100 students.