photo by: Contributed

Elsa McGrain

It’s been more than five months since a 20-year-old KU student’s body was found on the side of the road, but little headway appears to have been made in the case of the driver accused of killing her.

On Tuesday, the defense attorney for William Klingler was granted another 30-day continuance. However, Judge Stacey Donovan said that would be the last.

“I’m not going to give another continuance,” Donovan told Allyson Monson, an attorney who was appearing on behalf of Klingler’s appointed attorney, Gary West. “We need to get this done.”

photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

William Ray Klingler

Klingler, 37, is accused of fatally striking Elsa McGrain, a KU student from Nebraska who was running in the 1700 block of East 1500 Road on Nov. 6, then driving off. McGrain’s body was found just after 3:30 the next morning on the side of the roadway.

Court records indicate that the case has been continued multiple times. On Jan. 6, Jessica Glendening, appearing for West, was granted a continuance. Six weeks later, on Feb. 17, another scheduling date was set for March 10, then another for April 14, then another seven weeks down the road for June 2. The June 2 date will not be a hearing, but will simply be another opportunity to schedule a hearing.

Douglas County Deputy District Attorney David Melton on Tuesday did not oppose the latest continuance — originally requested for 30 days, not seven weeks — because he will be in a three-week jury trial for most of May and will not be available, he told Donovan.

Klingler reportedly told law enforcement that he was on a Door Dash route on the night McGrain was killed. That delivery route and various camera footage placed him at the scene of the accident around the time it occurred, according to the arrest affidavit in his case.

Klingler’s attorney, West, had asked Donovan to seal the arrest affidavit, which would have kept the public from seeing it, but Donovan opted instead to release a redacted version, which outlined why law enforcement authorities believed they had probable cause to arrest Klingler, including an allegation from a man who said Klingler sought to have his truck repaired after “hitting a deer.”

Klingler has been charged with failing to stop at the fatal accident, circumvention of an ignition interlock device, driving while suspended (second or subsequent offense) and no proof of liability insurance.

Court records indicate that Klingler has a criminal record going back more than 20 years, including multiple DUI and drug charges. In a pending Douglas County case from April 2024, he was charged with a fourth or subsequent DUI offense, as well as methamphetamine and circumvention of an ignition interlock device. He served a prison stint in 2021 after being convicted of tampering with electronic monitoring equipment.

Charges were also filed last month against Klingler accusing him of another “fourth or subsequent” DUI on Aug. 30, 2025, driving while suspended, having no proof of insurance and no registration.

In addition to the criminal charges, Klingler is being sued, along with Door Dash, by McGrain’s family for wrongful death.

He is being held in the Douglas County Jail on a bond of $500,000.