Kansas.com: Crime andamp; Courts

Brazen burglars strike in College Hill

TIM POTTER — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:46 CST

While a College Hill couple and their two small children slept upstairs early last Sunday, burglars went room to room downstairs.

The family might have slept through it if their dog hadn't growled. The husband went down to see what was wrong, felt a breeze, saw a door open, shouted for his wife to call 911 and retreated. While he remained armed and standing guard, she called 911 and said they had an intruder in their home.

Because a 911 dispatcher mishandled the call, 18 1/2 minutes passed before officers arrived — an eternity for the family.

Fax scam CEO, manager each sentenced for fraud

ROXANA HEGEMAN — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:08 CST

The president of a Florida consulting firm convicted in a massive fax blast scam was sentenced Friday to 68 months in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of small business owners across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Richard Hagan, chief executive officer of the Melbourne, Fla.-based PBS Global Inc., also was ordered to make more than $1.02 million in restitution and forfeit a similar amount in ill-gotten gains.

The sentence was agreed upon in advance as part of his guilty plea in September to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

Copper theft suspect arrested on return trip

STAN FINGER — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:08 CST

There are legendary tales of criminal masterminds — and then there's the guy who tried to steal copper pipe from a rental house near downtown.

A 39-year-old maintenance man was working on a rental property in the 600 block of North St. Francis shortly after 10:30 a.m. Thursday when he noticed the door to a garage studio apartment was open across the street — and it shouldn't have been.

When he went to investigate, he found a man removing copper pipe from beneath the kitchen sink. The intruder claimed he was removing the pipe under the instruction of the owner, the maintenance man told property manager Kris Sims via cell phone.

Theft, burglary charges for pregnant woman

STAN FINGER — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:08 CST

A pregnant woman believed to have stolen from west Wichita residents once they let her inside to make a telephone call has been arrested and charged, authorities said Friday.

Nicole L. Bell, 26, was charged Friday in Sedgwick County District Court with two counts of aggravated burglary and two counts of felony theft.

She is accused of stealing $245 from one west Wichita house on Nov. 1 and $103 from a second house on Nov. 18, court officials said.

Extradition flights save county time, money

RON SYLVESTER — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:23 CST

Steve Saffell keeps a Taser tucked by his seat in the cockpit and a handgun holstered underneath his right arm. As pilot of the Sedgwick County sheriff's airplane, Saffell's passengers are usually wearing handcuffs and leg irons.

Neither he nor Nathan Bevis, the county's other deputy pilot, has ever had to pull a weapon at 25,000 feet while returning people wanted on felony warrants to Wichita.

Even in a time of economic crunches and county budget cutbacks, the Sheriff's Office says flying saves taxpayers money — about $3 million since 1986, according to cost analysis reports.

Wichita grandad warns of telephone con artists

HURST LAVIANA — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:53 CST

The phone rang at 11:33 a.m. Thursday.

"This is your favorite grandson," the caller said.

"Chris?" the Wichita man asked.

Police warn about pregnant con artist

HURST LAVIANA — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:03 CST

Police Thursday warned west Wichita residents to beware of a young pregnant woman who has been talking her way into people's homes and stealing cash from their wallets and purses.

Lt. Mike Hennessy said the woman, who appears to be about eight months pregnant, has been knocking on doors and telling residents that her car has broken down and that she needs to use a telephone to call for help.

Once inside, Hennessy said, the woman has been able to gain the confidence of residents, and has then been able to gain access to their cash when they aren't looking.

Incest material found in Mo. home

MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. —The wife of one of six men charged in a child sex abuse case recently found material depicting incest that was hidden in the family's home, according to a search warrant.

The Jackson County search warrant issued last week after the arrest of Burrell E. Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, said investigators seized several items from Mohler's home, including four computer towers, several pornographic magazines and books, several DVDs, and cameras.

Col. Ben Kenney of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that several booklets found at the home were about incest.

County settles rape lawsuit

HURST LAVIANA — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

Sedgwick County commissioners agreed Wednesday to spend $85,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former Judge James Riddel Boys Ranch resident who said he was raped while being held at the home for troubled teens.

Assistant County Counselor Michael North said the county admitted no wrongdoing in settling the lawsuit. He said the costs of defending the case were taken into consideration when deciding to settle the case.

The plaintiff, who is now 19, said in his lawsuit that he was assaulted at the ranch six or seven times while being held there in September and October 2004 before leaving the facility without permission.

More sex charges against Mo. family

MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

LEXINGTON, Mo. —Prosecutors in western Missouri filed 15 additional sex charges against a family already accused of sexually abusing children as a newly released search warrant claims some of the suspects forced their victims to help kill and bury a man in 1988.

The new rape and sodomy charges stem from 1984 to 1989 and accuse Burrell E. Mohler Sr., 77, of Independence, of rape, sodomy and use of a child in a sexual performance. His sons, Burrell E. Mohler Jr., 53, of Independence; Jared Leroy Mohler, 48, of Columbia; Roland Neil Mohler, 47, of Bates City; and David A. Mohler, 52, of Lamoni, Iowa, were charged with rape.

The original complaint, which has allegations that date from 1988 to 1995, includes charges of forcible sodomy, rape with a child younger than 12 and use of a child in a sexual performance.

Foul play feared in man's disappearance

HURST LAVIANA — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:05 CST

Bel Aire police said Tuesday they suspect foul play in the March disappearance of an 82-year-old man.

William L. Howell was last seen about 3:30 p.m. March 5 at the Bel Aire Recreation Center.

Detective Craig Pentecost said Howell often hitchhiked into Wichita and rode buses to visit friends in the 900 block of North Topeka.

Marriage License Applications, Divorces Granted

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:33 CST

Marriage License Applications

Ayres, Clint E. and Hanigan, Denise N., both of Wichita.

Barrett, Michael T. and Littel, Kassidi J., both of Derby.

Ark City man charged in online solicitation

TIM POTTER — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:18 CST

As part of a wider investigation into reports that teenage girls in Wichita and Arkansas City have been solicited for sex over the Internet, a 25-year-old man has been charged in Sedgwick County.

Thomas L. Pennycuff, 25, of Arkansas City, has been charged with one count of electronic solicitation of someone he thought was under 16, Sedgwick County District Court records say.

Pennycuff was charged following an investigation that began after a Wichita police detective learned two 13-year-old girls had been contacted on MySpace by someone who identified himself as Tom and said he was 17, an affidavit filed in the case says.

Goddard ex-cop gets probation

TIM POTTER — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

A former Goddard police officer will serve two years of probation for a crime in which he was accused of offering to help a woman he arrested in exchange for sex.

On Monday, a federal judge sentenced Calvin Schaffer to two years of probation and a $500 fine. He had faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

In September, Schaffer, 44, pleaded guilty to wire fraud by depriving citizens of honest services.

Etheredge case in need of new lead attorney

BILL WILSON — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:24 CST

Thomas Etheredge's trial on securities fraud charges is set for Jan. 19, but the status of the Wild West World founder's lead defense attorney is in doubt.

Etheredge's attorney, Steve Joseph, said Monday he's looking for an attorney to take over the lead role in the case as he battles health issues that require a lessened workload.

Original plans called for Chris McHugh, an attorney with Joseph and Hollander, to assume the lead counsel role with Joseph assisting.

New court for mentally ill is well-received

RON SYLVESTER — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:23 CST

Judge Bryce Abbott said he was glad to see the woman walking to his bench in Wichita Municipal Court. "It's so nice to see someone who's not in handcuffs," Abbott told her.

She had been charged with her second case of driving under the influence. She'd kept all the appointments with her caseworker for the previous two weeks and was following through with her treatment as required by the city's new mental health court.

Funded by a federal grant from the Department of Justice, mental health court helps those charged with misdemeanor crimes who have severe mental illnesses.

Wichita reporter wrote book about murders

BECCY TANNER — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:10 CST

Was it the Clutter murders or Truman Capote, as a storyteller, that keeps the interest alive five decades later?

What if Random House had picked a Kansan to tell the story?

In Houston, 54-year-old Michael Nations wonders about that.

Pair recount friendship with Capote

BECCY TANNER — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:12 CST

All four were in their mid-30s when the Clutters were brutally murdered.

Their friendship would span decades.

Clifford Hope was Herb Clutter's attorney. His wife, Dolores, former city editor at the Garden City Telegram, was home raising their kids.

Wichita police investigate possible child abduction

HURST LAVIANA — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:01 CST

WICHITA — Police are asking for the public's help in finding a young girl who may have been abducted from a south Wichita neighborhood this afternoon.

Wichita police Sgt. Mark Jackson said several people reported seeing the girl, who was described as 9 to 11 years old, forced into a white pickup near Clark and Wichita about 3:40 p.m.

Police have received no reports of missing children, Jackson said, and there are indications that the man driving the truck may have been a relative of the girl.

Intruders crawl in through doggy door

TIM POTTER — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:06 CST

They came in through the doggy door armed with shotguns and pistols.

The four intruders apparently left in a hurry after they realized they came to the wrong house.

It happened around 11:05 p.m. Thursday in the 6400 block of East 32nd Street North, police spokesman Gordon Bassham said Friday.