Wichita man sentenced in stabbing death of cousin in wheelchair

A 41-year-old Wichita man who admitted to stabbing his cousin to death and then stuffing his body in a basement crawl space has been sentenced to 19.5 years in prison, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

Jason A. Payne was sentenced Wednesday in the death of 52-year-old Michael Montgomery, who used a wheelchair. Payne had originally been charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the Jan. 13, 2021, killing at their apartment in the 900 block of North Oliver. Payne told police he did it in a fit of rage after Montgomery reportedly told him he had molested a couple of their relatives in the past. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in July.

Payne told police during an interview that he went to his room to get a ‘throwing knife’ and then went back to the living room and stabbed Montgomery multiple times, an affidavit released in the case says. He told police he then put his cousin in a bag and stuffed him in a crawl space in the basement, cleaned up the blood and knife, then drank and did drugs before turning himself in, the affidavit says.

Payne is also the suspect in an inmate stabbing at the Sedgwick County Jail last month, according to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office. The victim was taken to the hospital and then released back to jail the same day. The suspect used an “improvised weapon made from a small piece of metal,” the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 1:26 PM.