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Theodore Burnett, also know as Ted Burnett
during his preliminary hearing for the murder of Chelsea Brooks. Burnett is charged along with two others Everett Gentry and Elgin Robinson
Every weekday, Kansas.com's Wichita Crime Maps show you all the crimes reported yesterday across Wichita, and every crime reported in your neighborhood for the past week. See them here.
Trial set to begin in Brooks murder
BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle
State v. Burnett
• The trial: Ted Burnett, 51, is charged with aggravated kidnapping and capital murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
• The crime: Chelsea Brooks, 14 and nine months pregnant, had just completed eighth grade at Allison Middle School when she disappeared from Skate South, 1900 E. MacArthur, on June 9, 2006. Her body turned up six days later in a shallow grave in a wheat field on Mulberry Road in Butler County.
• Also charged: Everett Gentry, then 17, pleaded guilty July 14, 2006, to murder as a juvenile and will avoid the death penalty. Now 19, he is the prosecution's key witness. Elgin Robinson, 22, is scheduled for trial in September.
• Prosecutors: Deputy District Attorney Kevin O'Connor and assistant Marc Bennett represent the state of Kansas.
• >For the defense: Gary Owens and Mark Manna are appointed to represent Burnett.
• The judge: Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess will preside.
• What's next? The trial begins at 9:30 a.m. Monday with jury selection. Jurors will be questioned in groups of 25. They also will be questioned individually about their views on the death penalty. About 500 potential jurors have been summoned for the trial. Jury selection is expected to take a week.
Ted Burnett smoked pot a few times with the teenage boy who had been hanging around his apartment complex.
That boy, Everett Gentry, would later testify in court, implicating 51-year-old Burnett in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme that will have him on trial for his life this week.
Jury selection begins today for Burnett's capital murder trial in the killing of Chelsea Brooks, who died nine months pregnant at age 14. The trial could span nearly three weeks.
Gentry's credibility on the witness stand is expected to be central to the trial. His testimony provides prosecutors with the main link between Burnett and Elgin Robinson, the father of Brooks' unborn child.
Robinson, Gentry says, agreed to pay Burnett $500 to kill Brooks -- who had just completed eighth grade at Allison Middle School -- in June 2006. Robinson, then 20, feared he would face rape charges because of her age.
Now, Burnett and Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted. Robinson's trial is scheduled for fall.
Burnett says he's not guilty. The jury will have to decide whether to believe Gentry, who also was implicated in the plot but will not go to trial after pleading guilty and agreeing to testify.
Burnett's lawyers are expected to attack his credibility, as they did in a preliminary hearing, pointing out his story has changed several times as he has talked to police.
Because of a gag order, lawyers cannot talk about the case outside the courtroom.
Another witness who earlier tied Burnett to the crime will not testify because Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess ruled the man's story was too unreliable.
Within a month after Brooks' body was discovered in a Butler County wheat field, Gentry, then 17, worked out a plea bargain to save himself from the death penalty. He pleaded guilty to murder as a juvenile in exchange for his testimony. When sentenced, he will face up to 50 years in prison.
Although Burnett and Robinson never met, Gentry said the two men made plans for Brooks' death during a brief telephone call.
Robinson had been saying for weeks that he had to "get rid" of Brooks as she grew nearer to giving birth, Gentry testified at a previous hearing.
The girl's parents had filed a restraining order against Robinson. Gentry said Robinson was certain he would face charges once the child was born.
Having sex with a child under 15, even if it's consensual, is considered rape.
Gentry said he had been buying marijuana at an apartment complex in the 1200 block of South Market, where he met Burnett. Gentry said the two smoked together, although he added that crack cocaine was Burnett's drug of choice.
Gentry said that on the night of June 9, 2006, he picked up Brooks at Skate South, where she had been with friends. Gentry told the girl he was picking her up for Robinson, who would have to meet them later because of the restraining order.
Despite her parents' worries, she had continued to see Robinson. Her cell phone went unanswered that night.
Gentry said he took her to his sister's house, then went to buy pot on South Market. Inside Burnett's apartment, Gentry said, he called Robinson.
"Is that your boy?" Gentry said Burnett asked. "Let me talk to him."
Gentry put Robinson on speaker phone and heard Robinson say: "If you take care of her for me, I'll give you $500."
"I'll do anything for $500," Burnett said.
Gentry testified he drove to his sister's house, with Burnett, to pick up Brooks.
Brooks said she wanted to go back to the skating rink. Instead, Gentry drove east on Harry toward Andover Road with Burnett sitting in the back seat.
During the drive, Gentry said Burnett snapped the cord from a video game system around the girl's neck and began strangling her.
"Ted," Gentry yelled.
Brooks struggled. Then she stopped fighting. Gentry said he continued to drive north on Andover Road, then turned on Mulberry Road.
The dirt road was nearly impassable, even for all-terrain vehicles, those familiar with the area said, and Gentry's car got stuck in the mud.
Gentry said he heard Brooks make a "snoring" sound, indicating she might still have been alive. He said Burnett wrapped a plastic bag around her head to suffocate her and dragged her into the woods.
They buried the girl "face down," Gentry testified.
Brooks was missing for a week before authorities found her body.
Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com.
