Murder Charges Filed In Kansas Teen Death

(CBS/AP)  A man videotaped leaving a store in this Kansas City suburb shortly before a teenager was abducted in the parking lot was charged with murder Thursday, authorities said.

Edwin R. Hall, 26, was accused of premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the death of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith, the Johnson County Court Web site said. Bond was set at $5 million.

Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline said Thursday he would consider seeking the death penalty.

Hall, looking tired and downcast, appeared Thursday in court via video feed from jail. He waived reading of the charges until he can hire his own attorney. His next appearance was scheduled for June 14.

The charges came a day after Smith's body was found in the woods. She had been missing since Saturday night, when she went to the Target store in Overland Park to buy a gift for her boyfriend.

Surveillance video showed her being forced into her car around 7:10 p.m., and the car driving off. It was found in a nearby mall parking lot about two hours later.

Police Chief John Douglass said Hall appeared to be the same person shown in the video leaving the Target soon after Smith. He was wearing a white T-shirt, sneakers, shorts and a goatee.

"This community has lost a vibrant and promising life, and a family has suffered unimaginable tragedy," Kline said.

Police said Hall's vehicle matched the description of a dark mid-1970s Chevrolet pickup that was seen entering the Target parking lot shortly after Smith's car.

"I want to again express my condolences to the Smith family," Douglass said. "I realize that this is not the preferred conclusion. While we cannot give them their daughter back, we can at least give them justice."

Detectives said a tip led them to Hall, of nearby Olathe.

A next-door neighbor of Hall contacted police when he saw the man's pickup in a surveillance video, he said.

Cameron Migues, 30, said he and his wife laughed when they noticed a similarity between Edwin R. Hall and the man pictured in the video. But then the video of the truck was released, and "we put two and two together," said Migues, who called a police hot line Wednesday morning.

"The worst part is I just talked to him Monday," he said. "We were talking about cars."

Neighbor Harold Barry, 50, said he was surprised when he heard Hall had been arrested. Hall recently helped him repair his pickup truck, he said.

"If I can go see him, I will see if I can help him out," said Barry, who added that Hall seemed especially close to his son.

"He loved his son his so much," Barry said. "He had his small kid in that truck every time I saw him."

Police received more than 500 tips and questioned numerous people, including Hall, police said. He was arrested at the end of his interview Wednesday.

If convicted, he would face a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the murder charge and more than 12 years for aggravated kidnapping, said Brian Burgess, spokesman for the Johnson County district attorney's office.

Douglass said police had received more than 500 tips in the case and had questioned numerous people, including Hall, who was arrested at the end of his interview Wednesday.

Douglass said there was no evidence that Hall and Smith knew each other. He declined to offer a motive for the attack or to specify whether investigators had determined that Smith was killed in Kansas, where the murder charge was filed.

Police found Smith's body in a wooded area near Grandview, Missouri, about 20 miles east of the Target store. Authorities have not say how she died.

Officers had been searching the lake area since Tuesday after tracing signals from Smith's cell phone. Investigators isolated two signals from an area in south Kansas City, Missouri.

Hall and his wife, Aletha, and a 4-year-old son lived in south Kansas City, Missouri, earlier this year.

"Just a nice young family," former neighbor Sarale Russ told The Kansas City Star. "Nothing unusual."

Meanwhile, a MySpace page that appears to be that of a man accused of kidnapping and killing a teenager contains some bizarre references that turn more disturbing in light of the criminal charges.

The general interests include "eating small children and harming small animals," but also photography and painting and wanting "to own my own company someday." The author describes himself as a "Sweet Troubled Soul."

He uses only the name "Jack," which Edwin R. Hall is known by to neighbors, and the picture he posted strongly resembles the 26-year-old. The person on the MySpace page also uses the same age and location as Hall, and a person with the same name as his wife, Aletha, has a page linked to "Jack's."

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »

[dapack29]

I actually live 1 mile from this creep in Olathe, KS. It is very eerie to realize that we lived so close, and I live in a newly-built nice subdivision (so this can happen anywhere). Reading through the previous comments, I think it is a great idea for all of us to push for mandatory self-defense classes in the schools. How about everyone who reads this keeps that in mind when you go to your children's school meetings, PTA meetings, school board meetings, etc. Make it a point to go to the meetings and speak up. Your tax dollars are funding the public schools. In our area, there is a foundation set up for free self-defense classes in honor of another innocent girl who was brutally killed about 5 years ago, named Ali Kemp. People should take advantage of these classes and use this as a learning experience for themselves and their children. I am signing myself up asap.

[kaywoodworth]

My heart goes out to the family of Kelsey Smith, as all that is on TV Friday 8:00 pm is the total injustice to Miss Paris what's her name. What has happened to our society?? What is wrong with this picture????? Our thoughts and prayer are with all of you now. We can't imagine what you are enduring. A mother.

[soopersec]

All i could do was cry when i read she had been murdered. Such sorrow overwhelmed me. How could he do this? I have granddaughters. They are young ladies, and i worry myself sick when they go anywhere. One of them was chased by a child molester about 1 week ago. He was caught - thank God - but, again what if.... My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

[finalmessiah]

Numbers 35:17 Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

[clew37]

For Staycalm:

The reason this is happening is because there is next to no consequences to the criminal behind such crimes. The average child murderer does not spend more years behind bars then the age of the kid he killed. It takes an average of 7 adult rapes to have an someone come under the radar of the police, but it takes an average of "70" to get someone to notice a child rapist. We can't even get someone to put seatbelts on a schoolbus, except the adult driver of course. No consequences and a culture that uses *** to sell EVERYTHING from Oreos to toothpaste(and by the way, all those things sold just as well when *** wasn't being used). *** doesn't sell, they sell ***. Almost always female. The one constant is girl, selling, girl, selling, etc. any commercial or program you watch. Rape has NEVER gone down in this country, and may soon become so prevalent, they'll make a nice reality show for everyone to watch. People can phone in who they'd like to see raped that night. In summary Staycalm, these things happen because they want to do they and more importantly, they are allowed to.

[staycalm]

After reading about Kelsey Smith I left my house to pick up my son from school and I looked with new eyes at the children walking home, some in groups, some alone, and I thought about how vulnerable they all were to being abducted...how easy it would be for some creep to just grab one off the street and take off. Sure enough, when I got back home, Antonio Villaraigosa was on TV talking about a 7 year-old who had just been grabbed off the street by a pedophile and raped behind a building. Are the citizens of our country going mad? We were a wonderful experiment in freedom and democracy that seems to be falling apart. I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts on why, at the peak of our civilization, there is such a rising tide of violence and callous disregard for innocent human life. I'd love to hear what you all think is causing this.

[jolsonbear]

An innocent girl was raped and then she and her entire family were killed by Marines. I don't recall people on this lynch mob called a blog ever getting so riled up and blood thirsty over that crime.

[peeker411]

An eye for an eye.... I think this man should get what he gave. Kelsey's death was completely undeserved, what a role model of a father this man is. Good riddance to bad rubbish. May he rot for all eternity.

[toldyouso21]

Sorry, forgot to clarify--when I said the rumour here, this is the community Kelsey was in: Overland Park, KS

The other story is the killer was married with a 4 year old son. Olathe is another suburb that connects to Overland Park. Both very upscale places. Crime can happen anywhere--and now, due to the internet and the innocense of our kids--anyone can come to them--people who would never even know they existed, can now deliberately track them down--it is no different than if our kids were advertising in a porno or pedaphile mag--"here I am, this is what a like, here is what I look like and here is where I live....look me up if you ever want a victim"

Of course they do not mean it that way--but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

He should get the death penalty--or better yet, just let him go free and tell us when and where this will happen.

[toldyouso21]

The word is that MySpace and FAce book are not just venues for kids but places where predators all over the world have accesses to the photos of children, can converse with them and often can find out what town they live in. After that, it is just a matter of going through the phone book or student directory to get an address.

We forget that the internet's true purpose is not a fun toy for kids or even a chatting tool--it is a marketing tool. Those who post their names. hobbies, location and pictures on the internet are advertising themselves to all kinds of people who otherwise would never know they existed. The rumour here is that this man tracked Kelsey after becoming obsessed with her pictures on MySpace.

If that is true, then Kelsey and millions of other posters on these sites are basically advertising themselves on a meat market where the potential criminal is not known, but due to their pictures, location info and talk about themselves--potential victims are known very well. This bears thinking about as we let our kids play on the internet. They never even have to talk to a predator--he can just wait incognito outside their home, then silently track them until opportunity strikes. And the perp can come from anywhere in the world--cause that is where the pictures go--anywhere in the world--to anyone in the world.