Judge keeps affidavits in Parsons quadruple murder case closed

A judge has refused a media request to open some sealed court documents in a quadruple homicide in southeast Kansas.

The Parsons Sun had asked a Labette County judge to allow the newspaper to review probable-cause and search-warrant affidavits in the case of David Bennett Jr., who is charged with killing a Parsons woman and her three children in November 2013.

The newspaper cited a state law that took effect July 1 that established a procedure for state courts to release to the public affidavits used to support arrest warrants and search warrants.

After a hearing Wednesday, District Judge Robert Fleming said he was ordering all records other than probable-cause and search-warrant affidavits transferred to the public record file. But the affidavits in question will remain sealed.

Bennett was arrested in Independence a day after the bodies of 29-year-old Cami Umbarger and her three children – Hollie, Jaxon and Averie – were discovered after concerned co-workers called police when she didn’t show up for work.

This story was originally published August 14, 2014 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Judge keeps affidavits in Parsons quadruple murder case closed."