In October 1981, a then-25-year-old woman sat in a public courtroom and described being raped and repeatedly sodomized by a stranger, who held her by the hair or with a knife to her throat throughout the ordeal. He’d attacked her as she was jogging on the University of Kansas campus, and dragged her to a treed area to commit the crimes. The victimization left her “utterly revulsed and disgusted and ...
Updated at 2:42 p.m. Friday Though a man initially reported that someone else stabbed him Friday morning in Lawrence, police now say that's not true. “Initially the subject indicated that there was a suspect involved, but police later determined that was not the case,” Sgt. Amy Rhoads of the Lawrence Police Department said Friday afternoon. She said police are not looking for any suspects. Just before 10 ...
A woman’s report that a friend sexually assaulted her in a bar bathroom and then at Clinton Lake later the same night led to rape and other charges against the man, according to a law enforcement affidavit. After requesting it from Douglas County District Court, the Journal-World on Friday received the affidavit in the case of Steven W. Seyfarth, 23, of Batavia, Ill., formerly of Lawrence. On Feb. 7, ...
Days after her accomplice was ordered to life in prison — for premeditated murder and other convictions based on what the judge called “overwhelming” evidence — Christina L. Towell decided to take a plea deal. Towell, 38, of Leavenworth, pleaded no contest and was convicted of first-degree felony murder Thursday in Douglas County District Court. Towell’s trial was set to begin Monday but has now ...
Story updated at 8:52 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, 2019: Both sides agreed in court Wednesday that evidence showed a Lawrence police officer was negligent when she accidentally shot a man using her gun instead of her Taser as intended. But did the officer’s mistake rise to the level of recklessness, which Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson has to show in order for a felony charge of aggravated ...
Updated at 3:35 p.m. Tuesday For the extensively premeditated and violently executed murder of her ex-boyfriend, Tria L. Evans should be locked away for the rest of her life, prosecutors told a judge Tuesday. “This woman does not deserve to see the light of day,” Amy McGowan said. And she may not. Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff sentenced Evans, 39, of Lawrence, to life in prison for the ...