photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

William Ray Klingler

A man who was apprehended in connection with a KU student’s death last year has been charged with multiple misdemeanors that he allegedly committed two days after the student’s death when he was still at large.

The more recent charges were filed earlier this summer and are in addition to the charges he was already facing connected to the hit-and-run fatality of Elsa McGrain, a 20-year-old KU student from Nebraska whose body was found in the 1700 block of East 1500 Road, where she had been jogging, on Nov. 7, 2025.

photo by: Contributed

Elsa McGrain

The newer charges for 37-year-old William Klingler include driving while suspended–2nd or subsequent offense, circumvention of ignition interlock device, no proof of insurance, and expired or no registration. Those charges stem from when Klingler’s white Ford F-150 was spotted by a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy near Clinton Lake on Nov. 9, 2025, two days after McGrain’s death.

They are in addition to charges filed on Nov. 12 that were specifically related to the McGrain case. Those charges include leaving the scene of a fatality accident, a felony; circumvention of ignition interlock device; driving while suspended–2nd or subsequent offense; and no proof of insurance.

According to a recently released affidavit related to the newer charges filed in June, Deputy Colton Bonner with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, was dispatched on Nov. 9, 2025, to the Clinton Lake area after a reporting party said a white Ford F-150 connected to the suspect in McGrain’s death was in the area. Bonner located the truck in the 600 block of North 950 Road and confirmed it was one that area agencies had been told to be on the lookout for.

When checking records prior to stopping Klingler, Bonner discovered that the vehicle registration was expired and that the registered owner, Klingler, had a suspended license, according to the affidavit.

When he pulled Klingler over, Bonner arrested him based on probable cause. He also observed that Klingler’s vehicle did not have an ignition interlock device that he was required to have due to prior DUIs, and Klingler admitted that he was driving without insurance, the affidavit said.

A separate and heavily redacted affidavit related to the events of Nov. 7 and pertaining to McGrain was reported on earlier by the Journal-World. It indicated that camera footage, vehicle debris, clothing fiber and other evidence led to Klingler being identified as a suspect. The affidavit also suggested that Klingler attempted to pass off the damage to his Ford F150 as having been caused by a collision with a deer, not a human being.

Arrest affidavits indicate why police believe they had probable cause to arrest someone, but the allegations therein have not been proved in court.

Klingler reportedly told law enforcement that he was on a DoorDash route on the night of McGrain’s death. That route and various camera footage placed him at the scene of the accident around the time the death occurred, the affidavit said.

McGrain’s family is currently suing Klingler and DoorDash in civil court for wrongful death as the criminal cases progress. They allege that the food delivery company DoorDash was negligent in not vetting a “dangerous driver” who was working on the company’s behalf, among other claims.

In addition, the family appears to be on the verge of a settlement with an insurance company under McGrain’s uninsured motorist policy. A court hearing in that matter was set to take place Friday but was postponed at the last minute until later this month.

As the Journal-World reported, Klingler was arrested in August 2025, nine weeks before McGrain’s death, on suspicion of DUI and other crimes, though the charges in that case weren’t filed until March of this year. That case, which is still pending, would represent Klingler’s fourth or subsequent DUI.

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.

Klngler is being held in the Douglas County Jail on a bond of $500,000. His next court appearance is Aug. 27.