Judge orders DNA testing in Ottawa quadruple-murder case

A Franklin County judge ordered this week that DNA testing can go forward in the capital murder case of a man accused of killing three adults and an 18-month-old child in May in rural Ottawa.

Franklin County District Judge Thomas H. Sachse is hearing the case of Kyle T. Flack, 27, of Ottawa, who faces charges of capital murder, first-degree murder, rape and criminal possession of a firearm in the deaths of Andrew Adam Stout, 30, and Steven Eugene White, 31, Kaylie Kathleen Bailey, 21, and Bailey’s 18-month-old daughter, Lana-Leigh.

The three adults were found on May 6 and May 7 in and around a house at 3197 Georgia Road, about five miles west of Ottawa. The child’s body was found days later in rural Osage County.

Sachse issued an order this week granting prosecutors’ request for DNA testing on 13 items that could be introduced as evidence at trial. The items have not been described publicly, and the order for DNA testing was sealed by the court.

Flack’s court-appointed attorney, Ron Evans, head of the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit in Topeka, argued in a hearing earlier this month that the defense should be able to inspect any items that could be destroyed by the act of testing.

Victor J. Braden, Deputy Attorney General for Kansas, is leading the prosecution in the case, but Franklin County Attorney Stephen Hunting is also participating.

Flack previously served four years in prison for attempted murder in another case and remains in Franklin County Jail in lieu of posting a $10 million bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Aug. 29, and the case is expected to continue into next year.