Suspect in girl's murder says he's not guilty

The man charged with capital murder in the death of a 14-year-old Great Bend girl said Thursday that he had no contact with her the night she disappeared and is not guilty.

Adam Longoria, who also is charged with criminal sodomy in the case, said he did not have sex with the victim, Alicia DeBolt. Her burned body was found last August, a few days after she disappeared.

He denied that he bought gasoline a couple of hours after she disappeared.

Longoria, 37, made the statements during an interview with an Eagle reporter Thursday at the Sedgwick County Jail.

He said he was speaking out to defend himself. His version of events offers a window into possible defense strategies in a case that could result in the death penalty.

His attorneys could not be reached for comment. No trial date has been set.

In the interview, Longoria said someone else had access to his cellphone and used it to send text messages to Alicia on Aug. 21, the night she disappeared.

And someone else used the vehicle he had been driving, he said.

According to previous court testimony, investigators obtained text messages from Longoria's cellphone to Alicia. One of the texts said: "Do u want 2 party." Her cell sent back a text: "I'm ready," and his cell responded"... B there in 3 mins." That message came at 10:59 p.m. Aug. 21.

A neighbor testified that between 10:30 and 11 p.m., she saw a black SUV pull up, Alicia get in and the vehicle drive away.

About three days later, Alicia's burned body was found at an asphalt plant outside Great Bend where Longoria worked.

In Thursday's interview, Longoria said there is "medical evidence" of an unknown male — but not him — on Alicia's body.

DNA evidence from her in a vehicle he used could have been there from a previous party, before the night she disappeared, he said.

At a November hearing, a Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab examiner testified that semen was found in the black Ford Escape, which belonged to Longoria's girlfriend. The examiner said Longoria had left in the SUV the night Alicia disappeared and that tests showed DNA matching Longoria and Alicia on a driver's side floor mat.

Longoria said he had met Alicia twice previously — once at a party where she told him she was 16.

The girl had asked him for rides, and his girlfriend didn't like it, he said.

Longoria said he's learned from documents in the case that gasoline was used to burn Alicia's body.

A Great Bend convenience store clerk has testified that Longoria walked in and asked for a gas container, which she didn't have, and that a receipt showed he bought $1.32 in gas at 12:10 a.m. Aug. 22.

Despite testimony about the receipt, Longoria said Thursday that he didn't buy the gas.

He said he parked by gas pumps because he thought police would be more apt to smell alcohol on him if he had parked at the front of the store.

He said his girlfriend, whom he lived with, threw away clothes he had been wearing. He asked her to dispose of the clothes because they had stains from when he moved a container of motor oil and transmission fluid and it spilled on him, he said. He had been retrieving marijuana hidden beneath an oil container, he said.

He said he has been the target of investigators and prosecutors in Alicia's death because he has a prison record in Texas. Longoria moved to Great Bend in May 2010 after being released from a Texas prison. His criminal record included convictions for burglary and robbery.

Longoria, dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, said he is being held at the Sedgwick County Jail rather than the jail in Great Bend so he can be closer to his defense attorneys and because he is considered a security risk because of the charges against him.

This story was originally published June 17, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Suspect in girl's murder says he's not guilty."