An accused child molester who was scheduled for a plea hearing Wednesday in Douglas County District Court died by suicide Tuesday, according to a prosecutor, who told the court that the man's death had deprived the victim and the community of justice. The defendant, 58-year-old Kurt Pisocki, of Lawrence, was facing multiple off-grid felonies that could have meant life in prison if he were convicted of any ...
Updated at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, 2026 A repeat felon who was granted probation just last month after his attorney assured a judge that he was a "new man" was arrested Monday afternoon on suspicion of arson and two other felonies. The May sentence of probation was extraordinary in that the sentencing judge said she couldn't recall ever granting probation in such a case before. Steven Carl Drake, 51, of ...
A man accused of three sex crimes against two Lawrence children in the early 2000s pleaded not guilty on Monday, waived his upcoming preliminary hearing and told the court that he and the state intended to talk to a local judge about possibly mediating the case. David Zimbrick, who's been charged with one count of rape, one count of aggravated criminal sodomy and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with ...
A defendant accused of interfering with law enforcement will be allowed to argue at trial that police bias played a role in his arrest, but he will not be allowed to subpoena a file that he claims was compiled by Lawrence police to vilify him and to interfere with his rights under the First Amendment. Douglas County Judge Amy Hanley made that ruling Monday after hearing conflicting testimony from an ex-corporal ...
Two Lawrence middle school boys are facing felony charges after allegedly "catfishing" a nude selfie out of a fellow eighth-grader and then sharing the ill-gotten image with other youths at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School. Catfishing is the act of creating a fake identity to deceive someone into taking a particular action such as sharing an intimate photo. The two boys, who appeared in Douglas County ...
A man who was accused of robbing a Lawrence woman at her home at gunpoint four years ago pleaded guilty Thursday to a lesser offense and will potentially face several years in prison when he is sentenced later this summer. The defendant, Markcus Trey Sanders, 32, pleaded guilty in Douglas County District Court to attempted aggravated residential burglary. He had originally been charged with aggravated robbery ...