Death Penalty Sought In Cannibal Case

A man accused of killing a 10-year-old girl in what investigators describe as a cannibalistic plot will be tried for first-degree murder, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Kevin Ray Underwood, 26, accused of strangling Jamie Rose Bolin.

Underwood lived in the same apartment complex as the girl, who was reported missing April 12 after failing to return home from the library. Her body was found nearly decapitated inside Underwood's apartment, investigators have said.

An FBI agent testified at Tuesday's hearing that Underwood admitted to slaying the girl during the search of his apartment. Craig Overby said he spotted the girl's clothing inside a plastic tub in a bedroom closet and asked Underwood where the girl was.

Overby said Underwood responded:

"She's in there. I hit her and chopped her up."

After Underwood's arrest, police and prosecutors revealed grisly details of the crime, saying Underwood raped the girl's corpse and planned to eat her flesh. A medical examiner's report released later indicated there were signs of sexual assault, but could not determine if they were inflicted after her death.

A judge has granted a request by Underwood's attorney for a gag order that prohibits attorneys and law enforcement from discussing the case publicly.

However, Underwood documented his thoughts and musings for years in an Internet blog.

In it, he joked about cannibalism and wrote about feeling isolated, depressed and even homicidal.

"My fantasies are just getting weirder and weirder. Dangerously weird," Underwood wrote in September 2004. "If people knew the kinds of things I think about anymore, I'd probably be locked away. No probably about it, I know I would be."