Updated at 5:48 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8 A Lawrence woman was sentenced on Friday to 40 months in prison for her role in the fentanyl death of her 21-year-old boyfriend more than three years ago. The sentencing came as a relief to the family of the victim — Kendall Royce Stiffler — who had appeared in court last month, some from out of state, expecting the sentence to be handed down only to be disappointed by a ...
A defendant in a double homicide case clearly waived his Miranda rights, and his incriminating statements to police will be admissible at trial, a Douglas County judge ruled Thursday. Additionally, the trial of Rodney E. Marshall, scheduled to begin in two months, will remain in Lawrence, and jurors will not be allowed to visit the crime scenes. Marshall, 53, is alleged to have fatally shot Shelby McCoy, 52, at ...
A Lawrence man was ordered on Wednesday to stand trial on two counts of rape for crimes that allegedly occurred 17 years ago. The defendant, Lance Yoder, 54, was originally charged with three counts of rape, but one count was dismissed in June because it was barred by the statute of limitations, as the Journal-World reported. At that preliminary hearing in June, a 27-year-old woman testified that Yoder had ...
A Lawrence man on Wednesday was ordered to stand trial on charges that he committed sex crimes against a 6-year-old girl. The defendant, Joseph A. Long, 42, is facing one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy. Both charges are off-grid felonies that could result in a life sentence if he is convicted. Judge Stacey Donovan found probable cause to bind ...
A Lawrence man on Wednesday was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fentanyl overdose death of a 32-year-old father of two. The defendant, Robert Leeroy Hall, 35, pleaded guilty to the felonies of involuntary manslaughter and unlawful distribution of fentanyl as part of a plea agreement with the state, which had originally charged him with one felony count of distribution of a controlled substance ...
Douglas County prosecutors on Tuesday failed to convince a jury that a Lawrence man attempted to murder his pregnant wife during an argument in July. Prosecutors also failed to prove that Dustin Ian Lane, 39, committed the crimes of attempted voluntary manslaughter, aggravated intimidation of a victim, intimidation of a victim and criminal restraint. After deliberating for about two and a half hours Tuesday ...