A man accused of stealing grease from multiple Lawrence restaurants pleaded guilty and was convicted Wednesday in Douglas County District Court. Byron Parker Aston, 29, of Springfield, Mo., was first charged Feb. 27 with felony theft for allegedly stealing more than a ton of used cooking grease from bins behind three downtown Lawrence restaurants. Prosecutors said Aston came back to Lawrence for a court ...
Although a psychologist had written the words in her report on a Lawrence murder defendant, attorney Carl Cornwell said a “battered woman” defense did not occur to him. Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, now 25, is serving a sentence of 50 years to life for the 2014 murder of Harold “Hal” Sasko. Her new attorney, Jonathan Sternberg, has argued in hearings this week that her sentence should be vacated. Judge Amy ...
Evidence wrapped up Wednesday in a Lawrence shooting trial that has been, at times, a bit heated since it began Dec. 9. Judge James McCabria had readied a video conference in another courtroom if the defendant, Tommy May, was unable to heed the court’s orders not to talk about certain subjects, including his military service and diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer. May had violated such ...
A Lawrence man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with an Aug. 20 accident that killed a 24-year-old woman. Eric L. Spaeth, 43, was arrested Friday and charged Monday in Douglas County District Court, records indicate. He faces a charge of second-degree murder, a high-level felony or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter. He is also charged with misdemeanors: driving under the ...
Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, now 25, said Tuesday that she never “wanted her story told,” as her trial attorney had said. “I was so embarrassed,” she testified from the witness stand, for the first time in the nearly six-year span of her case. “... Who would’ve wanted to go through that?” She had never been in legal trouble before she was charged with murdering Harold “Hal” Sasko in 2014, she ...
Story updated at 5 p.m. Monday: A judge will hear evidence to determine whether a woman convicted in a Lawrence murder was not properly advised of a plea deal that would have cut her sentence by half. Rather, her new attorney says that her counsel before and during her trial repeatedly told her, “We’re going to win, young lady.” Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, now 25, returned to Douglas County District Court ...