Tag: Crime

Convicted killer of three at Jewish Community Center dies in prison

The convicted killer of three people at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park has died in prison, according to a statement from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Frazier Glenn Cross Jr., who was convicted of the murder of three people at the Jewish Community Center, died on Monday, May 3, at the El Dorado Correctional Facility, according to a statement from KDOC.

He was serving a sentence for capital murder, attempted murder and firearms convictions.

Frazier Glenn Cross Jr. was an alias for Frazier Glenn Miller Jr.

Miller, an anti-Semite, shot and killed three persons in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center on April 13, 2014, including a 14-year-old boy, Reat Underwood; his grandfather, William Corporon; and a woman visiting her mother at an assisted living center, Teresa LaManno. None of the persons he killed was Jewish.

Miller reportedly shouted “Heil Hitler” while in the back seat of a police car at the Jewish Community Center, following the shooting.

A preliminary assessment indicated that the cause of Miller’s death Monday was from natural causes, according to KDOC. The cause of death is pending an autopsy.

Miller was appealing his death sentence in a case heard before the Kansas Supreme Court on March 29 and 30. The decision was pending. Miller had represented himself at the district court trial.

According to information online from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Miller was the founder and former leader of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the White Patriot Party, paramilitary organizations in the 1980s. He was a member of a neo-Nazi group in North Carolina. The group attacked and killed Communist marchers in Greensboro, North Carolina.

He later turned up in Missouri after serving a prison term. In 1987, he was in the Springfield, Missouri, area. He went to prison for another three years on a weapons charge, and as part of a plea deal he testified against other white supremacists, according to SPLC information.

He later ran for Congress in Missouri in 2006. He ran for the Senate in Missouri in 2010. While running for office he made anti-Semitic statements, according to the SPLC website.

Death of Alonzo Brooks a homicide, autopsy finds

A new autopsy report has determined that the death of a Kansas man whose body was found in a creek in La Cygne, Kansas, in 2004 was a homicide.

A federal forensic examiner concluded the cause of death of Alonzo Brooks was homicide, according to the FBI.

Brooks’ body was exhumed and transported to Dover Air Force Base for examination by the Armed Forces medical examiner as part of a continuing federal investigation , according to the report.

Brooks worked in Gardner, Kansas, and went to a party in La Cygne, Kansas, in 2004. When he did not return to his home in Gardner, the authorities were notified.

“We knew that Alonzo Brooks died under very suspicious circumstances,” acting U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard said. “This new examination by a team of the world’s best forensic pathologists and experts establishes it was no accident. Alonzo Brooks was killed. We are doing everything we can, and will spare no resources, to bring those responsible to justice.”

The FBI in June 2020 offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of anyone responsible for the death. Alonzo’s death was suspected to be racially motivated. Brooks was 23 when he died. He attended a party with about 100 other people on the outskirts of La Cygne in 2004, but his friends left him at the party without a ride.

After Brooks had been missing about a month, his family and friends conducted a search of the area and found his body at the creek.

“The FBI’s commitment to justice remains at the forefront of each and every investigation,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Timothy Langan said. “Our reach is broad, and the strength of our investigative tools are exceptional. We remain dedicated to uncovering the truth surrounding the murder of Alonzo Brooks and ensuring those responsible are held accountable for their actions.”

The new autopsy focused on injuries to parts of Brooks’ body that the examiner concluded are inconsistent with normal patterns of decomposition, according to the FBI. Details of the examination are being withheld for investigative purposes.

In 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Kansas and the FBI reopened the investigation of Brooks’ death, which had been dormant for years. As part of the new investigation, the FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for Brooks’ death.

In the initial investigation, a coroner in Linn County said he was unable to determine a cause of death and witnesses’ interviews failed to produce any arrests.

The new investigation is focused on determining whether Brooks, an African-American who was 23 years old when he died, was the victim of a racially motivated killing, according to the FBI.

Brooks was last seen alive in April 2004 during a party at a house on the outskirts of La Cygne. He was one of only three African-American men at the party, which 100 or more people attended. Brooks, who lived in Gardner, Kansas, rode to the party with friends. They left and he wound up with no ride home.

When Brooks failed to come home the next day, his family and friends contacted the Linn County Sheriff’s Department.

According to reports at the time, the Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement agencies searched areas around the farmhouse, including parts of nearby Middle Creek, but did not find Alonzo.

After Alonzo had been missing for almost a month, a group of his family and friends organized a search. They began on the road near the farmhouse and walked the two branches of Middle Creek. In just under an hour, they found Alonzo’s body, partially on top of a pile of brush and branches in the creek.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the FBI at 816-512-8200 or 816-474-TIPS or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Two Olathe men, one Blue Springs man charged in Capitol riot

A photo in the affidavit showed William Chrestman at the Capitol riot, according to court documents.

Two Olathe, Kansas, men and one Blue Springs, Missouri, man were arrested on Thursday morning by the FBI on federal charges related to the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.

William Norman Chrestman, Olathe, Christopher Charles Kuehn, Olathe, and Louis Enrique Colon, Blue Springs, were arrested by federal agents and members of the FBI’s Terrorism Task Force.

On Jan. 6, Congress was certifying the Electoral College results of the presidential election.

Chrestman was charged with conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds.

Chrestman was taken into custody without incident, according to an FBI spokesman.

Kuehn was arrested on federal charges of conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds.

Kuehn was taken into custody without incident, the spokesman stated.

Colon was arrested on federal charges of conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds.

Colon also was taken into custody without incident, the spokesman stated.

Affidavits in the cases contain photos of the defendants at the Capitol riots. The affidavits also go into detail about events that happened there.

Although the defendants were from Olathe and Blue Springs, they were allegedly affiliated with a chapter known as the “Kansas City Proud Boys,” a chapter of the Proud Boys, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, about 81 members of the Capitol police and 58 members of the Metropolitan Police Department were assaulted during the riot. One person was shot and killed while trying to enter the House chamber through a broken window.

The federal complaints are online at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases.