GUILTY KS - Jennifer Heckel, 27, murdered by mistake, Hutchinson, 14 June 2011

[BrownRice]

Wow, if this is a case of 3 idiots simply going to the wrong house and murdering someone, how disgusting and senseless. Obviously, any reason to kill a young mother is disgusting, but this just makes you shake your head.

 

[Fairy1]

So not a hit, just a bunch of dunces? Wow. No wonder it didn't make any sense at all.

What a waste of a beautiful life.

 

[belimom]

So not a hit, just a bunch of dunces? Wow. No wonder it didn't make any sense at all.

What a waste of a beautiful life.

So sad...

It reminds me of another case (can't recall the name, etc) where a young woman stopped by her parents home and there was an intruder (thief) in the house. Since she knew him from somewhere, he said he had to kill her. She locked herself in the bathroom but there was no window. He got tools, and took the door off... and murdered her because he didn't want to go to jail for stealing some art (I think it was art) from the house. Just so pathetic. :no:

 

[SunnieRN]

So sad...

It reminds me of another case (can't recall the name, etc) where a young woman stopped by her parents home and there was an intruder (thief) in the house. Since she knew him from somewhere, he said he had to kill her. She locked herself in the bathroom but there was no window. He got tools, and took the door off... and murdered her because he didn't want to go to jail for stealing some art (I think it was art) from the house. Just so pathetic. :no:

OMG, can you imagine the terror she went through, when he started to remove the door. She had to know what he intended to do. Poor thing!

 

[wfgodot]

Two charged with murder in Heckel shooting death (Hutchinson News)

Reno County prosecutors filed murder charges late Thursday morning against two men in connection with the June 14 shooting death of Jennifer Heckel in her Hutchinson home.

The charges against Billy Joe Craig, Jr., 48, and Charles Christopher Logsdon, 32, were filed under alternate theories, but indicate Heckel’s death was a case of mistaken identity, according to a release from Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder.
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more, with pictures of those charged, at link above

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They face charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and felony possession of a firearm.
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ksn.com

 

[Shelby1]

Murder charges filed.

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Charges_Filed_In_Death_Of_Hutchinson_Woman_130360763.html

snipped:

Billy Joe Craig, Jr., 48, and Charles Christopher Logsdon, 32, of Hutchinson, are accused in the death of 27-year-old Jennifer Heckel on the evening of June 14, 2011. She was found shot to death in her home at 501 Coronado. The Reno County District Attorney said in a news release it appears she was a victim of mistaken identity.


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Prayers for her son, husband, family and friends.

 

[wfgodot]

At 27, Jennifer Heckel had a good job and a nice home in Hutchinson that she shared with her husband and 5-year-old son.

But on the evening of June 14, she became the victim of a violent tragedy, authorities allege, when robbers targeting someone else went to her home by mistake. One of them shot and killed her while her son was in another room and her husband was working out of town.

"Jennifer Heckel was as innocent a victim as you get," said Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder.
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In a prepared statement he said that conspiracy charges against Craig and Logsdon "allege they and a third man agreed to commit premeditated murder of another person." According to court records, they thought the home was occupied by someone whose initials are K.S.

The identity of the third co-conspirator "is being intentionally withheld at this time for his protection," the statement said. That person has not been charged but is incarcerated, Schroeder said.
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more here:

http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/22/2028145/murder-charges-filed-in-death.html

 

[wfgodot]

Hutchinson woman says Reno County D.A. partly to blame for Heckel murder (kwch.com)

"I didn't do this. I didn't do this." Accused killer Charles Logsdon ranted about his innocence in court this week during a first appearance with co-defendant Billy Joe Craig Jr.
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For Logsdon, it's not the first time he's been charged with shooting someone.

Deanna Davis-Harbacek says Logsdon shot her husband, Eric Harbacek, in the knee during a disagreement last November. Reno County Court records show Logsdon was charged with aggravated battery a month later.

Eric Harbacek has a criminal past of his own, including convictions 20 years ago for aggravated burglary and aggravated assault. Mrs. Harbacek thinks that may have kept the Reno County District Attorney's Office from handling his case as seriously as others.

"In my heart I think that they did not do anything about it because it's Eric. And I think that's crap," she says.

The case against Logsdon was dismissed in April. Two months later, Heckel was murdered.
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the debate continues at KWCH link above

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/courts_and_cops/appeals-court-upholds-supression-of-statements-in-heckel-murder/article_01d5b6ad-977c-504f-95e8-7222ee9641ac.html

The Kansas appellate court Friday ruled Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers properly suppressed several interviews a defendant in the Jennifer Heckel murder case gave to police, including one in which he confessed involvement in the crime and implicated two others...

Chambers ruled Sept. 2 that Craig’s statements to police weren’t voluntary, but were compelled by a number of factors, including being kept in lockup 23 hours a day for weeks with a serious methamphetamine addiction.

Chambers said Craig’s attorney, Donald Snapp, improperly counseled him and that law enforcement too aggressively pushed Craig to tell them facts they previously deemed the truth in exchange for a plea deal that would have essentially given Craig immunity in the homicide case – which he was then not given.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news...ntest-in-2011-hutchinson-murder-case/30023982

One of the men accused in the death of a Hutchinson woman in June of 2011 entered a no contest plea in Reno County on Tuesday.

After entering the plea, a judge found Billy Joe Craig, Jr. guilty of conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the death of Jennifer Heckel. The crime carries a sentence of 13 to 15 years in prison...

Craig is set to be sentenced on January 30, 2015, at 1:30 p.m.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://ksn.com/2015/01/30/man-sentenced-in-mistaken-identity-murder-of-hutchinson-woman/

One of the men charged in the mistaken identity murder of Jennifer Heckel back in June of 2011 was sentenced to 15 years and 3 months.

Billy J. Craig, Jr. entered a no contest plea and was found guilty by Reno County judge of the crime of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.

http://www.hutchnews.com/news/local...cle_cf04d377-1688-520c-ae15-15af24cf3b9e.html

The most difficult time through all the hearings, motions and trial, the family said, was the 2½ days the Logsdon jury deliberated. “It was brutal,” Marc said...

Months later, when visiting a citywide garage sale in Buhler, a woman approached them on Main Street and asked how they were. “I said ‘fine,’” Marc said. “Then she asked if I remembered her. Once she said that, I knew she was one of the jurors.”

Juror No. 6 told the Timmermeyers she’d hoped she’d run into them someday, to explain why deliberations took so long. “They all agreed as soon as they went in (to deliberations) he was guilty, but they wanted to not give the defense anything that might overturn it. They wanted to go through each piece of evidence.” That meant re-watching hours of videotaped interviews, and reviewing more than 200 exhibits. Logsdon is serving 73 years in prison.