Lawton Jury Acquits Man Of Woman's Strangulation
Jurors took only an hour Friday to acquit Kenneth Wagstaff, 21, of the Oct. 2, 1983, strangulation of a woman whose body was found in a pond two days after her death.
Defense Attorney John Zelbst said Wagstaff was planning to board a plane for his home state of New York.
He had been held without bail in the Comanche County Jail since his arrest in October. "I'm always happy to win cases," Zelbst said. The jury "decided in what I feel is right."
But Comanche County District Attorney Dick Tannery said he blames Wagstaff's acquittal on "the system, for not allowing juries to know all the evidence." Tannery said Wagstaff has been tried in New York on charges of attempted murder and attempted rape and was acquitted on both.
Tannery had sought the death penalty for Wagstaff, whom he termed a "thrill killer" accused of strangling Cynthia Lynn Ross with his thumbs.
Wagstaff is "still our main suspect in the disappearance and probable death" of 18-year-old Lisa Farmer, missing since last August, Tannery said. No charges have been filed in that case because no body has ever been found, he said.
Zelbst said Wagstaff's defense consisted of "an airtight alibi" that he could not have strangled and put Miss Ross in a pond the day of her death because he was at a friend's house.
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Wagstaff said Miss Ross had given him a ride to a friend's house and promised to return, but he never saw her again. Wagstaff was charged because he apparently was the last person seen with her, Zelbst said.
Tannery argued that Wagstaff is a "psycho" who had met Miss Ross once, a week before her death.
