HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After Judge Tim Chamber suppressed some statements made in the case against Billy Craig Jr., involving the murder of Jennifer Heckel, the Kansas Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision.
The defense wanted some statements made during taped interviews with law enforcement over the killing of Heckel suppressed, some prior to him even being charged with murder saying they didn’t believe the statements were made voluntarily.
Judge Chambers ruled that in one case, Craig believed that if he did not make statements over the murder as requested by the state, he would spend the rest of his life in prison, and if he did, he would be let out of jail and not prosecuted for the murder. Judge Chambers also ruled that law enforcement crossed the line when Craig asked whether an attorney is representing him on the homicide? He was told,.”you don’t have a right to an attorney anyway, because you are not charged with murder.”
The judge granted the motion to suppress for statements made on July 19, in a transport vehicle, an interrogations on August 12 and August 24, all in 2011.
In some of these statements Craig’s apparently implicates himself as being involved in the killing of Heckel, which occurred on June 14, 2011, but later gets cold feet and says he made it all up.
He along with Charles Christopher Logsdon and possibly Matthew Barnes allegedly went to the home of Heckel, killed her while her young son was in the next room listening.
Logsdon has already been convicted of the crimes associated with this case. He was sentenced by Judge Trish Rose to 73-years in prison.
With the Supreme Court denying the review, District Attorney Keith Schroeder says the case will come back to District Court for a pre-trial and trial before Judge Chambers. He says he receieved notice of the Supreme Court ruling on Monday.