WRITER: Kim Callahan

Police arrest homicide suspect; 35-year old woman found dead behind vacant building on Mass. Street

Updated at 6:19 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29 Lawrence police on Friday arrested a 63-year-old Lawrence man in connection with a homicide after a 35-year-old woman’s body was found behind a vacant building in the 1800 block of Massachusetts Street. Sgt. Drew Fennelly said the victim, whose name was not provided, appeared to have been stabbed multiple times. Police were called to the scene at 7:22 a.m. Friday. The ...

District attorney's deputy DA no longer with office

The deputy district attorney is no longer employed in the Douglas County District Attorney's Office, and indications are that it was not his choice to leave. The Journal-World first learned that Deputy District Attorney David Greenwald no longer works for DA Dakota Loomis from sources close to the office, although the circumstances of his departure remain unclear. A person answering the phone at the office ...

Lawrence school district denies that it was negligent in hiring, retaining, supervising speech pathologist accused of molesting kids

The Lawrence school district denies that it was negligent in hiring, retaining and supervising a speech pathologist who is accused of molesting multiple students at Prairie Park Elementary School. In the civil lawsuit filed in March on behalf of one of the children — a 6-year-old girl — the district had already denied that it was vicariously liable for sexual battery by pathologist Mark Gridley, who has now ...

While investigating child sex crimes, police find videos of defendant raping women, sexually abusing dog, according to redacted affidavits

While investigating a man's alleged sex crimes against children, Lawrence police found video evidence that the man had raped two women and sexually abused a dog, according to recently released arrest affidavits. The Douglas County District Attorney's Office and the attorney for defendant Kenneth Wayne Soap had asked a judge to keep the affidavits from being seen by the public, as the Journal-World reported, but ...

Douglas County DA's Office wants arrest affidavits in man's sex-crime cases kept from public

The state is asking a Douglas County judge to keep the public from seeing the reasons why law enforcement arrested a man accused of numerous sex crimes. The Douglas County District Attorney's Office this week filed motions to have probable cause affidavits sealed in three cases related to defendant Kenneth W. Soap, and Soap's attorney has also filed motions to keep the information from the public. An arrest ...

Former Raintree Montessori School employee takes plea deal in child sex crimes case, faces more than 15 years in prison

Updated at 4:35 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22 A former Raintree Montessori School employee accused of inappropriately touching two preschoolers three years ago at the private school took a plea agreement on Friday and faces a sentence of more than 15 years in prison. Mateo Clavel Wills, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child on Friday in ...