Sam Vanochen in court during his August murder trial- pool photo Hutch News
HUTCHINSON — The Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday denied the Writ of Mandamus requested by Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder against Judge Trish Rose in the Samuel Vonachen murder case.
Schroeder filed the writ to try to stop plans to have a new mental evaluation completed for the teen convicted of setting the fire that killed his mother and sister.
The state had requested that the 17 year old be moved to adult jail after being convicted of two counts of murder, attempted murder and aggravated arson as an adult and also asked the court to block another mental evaluation from being conducted, instead of going ahead and sentencing him for the conviction.
Schroeder stated in the motion that he was never notified of the judge’s attempt to do this.
Because of the high court’s decision, Schroeder says it would appear Vonachen will remain housed in the Reno County Juvenile Detention Facility until further order of the court and be subject to another evaluation by Larned State Security Hospital.
Schroeder, in an email to the media, said, “I stand by my decision to challenge Judge Rose’s decisions, despite the ruling of the Kansas Supreme Court. I believe it was my sworn duty to do everything possible to protect the community.”
A Reno County jury convicted the teen of the two counts of murder for the killing of his mother and sister who died after he set fire to the family home on Sept. 26, 2013. His father was able to escape. But, he was also convicted for attempted first-degree murder for trying to kill his father and aggravated arson for the actual setting of the fire.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas legislator has criticized a black performer’s public protest by saying in a Facebook posting that she should go back “home.”
State Rep. Joe Seiwert confirmed the posting Tuesday in interviews with The Topeka Capital-Journal and Wichita Eagle. The Republican defended the posting as a comment on someone showing disrespect to the American flag.
Seiwert’s post said, “Go back to where you claim home.”
Two black legislators and the Democrat opposing Seiwert’s re-election in their Wichita-area district called the posting offensive.
Seiwert confirmed he posted the comment under a meme with vulgar language criticizing singer Denasia Lawrence for kneeling to sing the national anthem before a preseason professional basketball game Friday in Miami. She wore a Black Lives Matter shirt and later called it protest against racial injustice.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old Kansas woman was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison for placing her newborn baby in in a trash can and letting her die.
Prosecutors say Marissa Carol Fields gave birth to a nearly full-term baby at her home in Olathe in December 2014. She was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years and 10 months after earlier agreeing to plead no contest to second-degree murder and aggravated abandonment of a child.
The Kansas City Star reports Fields had not told anyone she was pregnant. Her father discovered the baby’s body in the trash and contacted police.
Earlier testimony indicated the baby girl was likely born alive. Fields told investigators the girl was cold and not breathing when she was born.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby bristled at the suggestion that without Oklahoma and Texas the league is akin to the Mountain West.
Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard made that assertion during a radio interview last week, shortly after the Big 12 decided against expansion . Pollard also said the only difference between Iowa State and schools that wanted into the 10-member league is that the Cyclones are already in.
Asked about Pollard’s comments at the conference’s annual basketball media day Tuesday, Bowlsby tersely replied: “I don’t share that vantage point.”
Some league athletic directors have been critical of the Big 12’s expansion process, arguing they should have had a bigger role in the deliberations, while others wonder if the league is built to last . Discussions were conducted at the level of university presidents and chancellors, in some cases career academicians with little background or knowledge of college sports.
“Our composition process was like every other one I’ve been around. It was managed at the presidential and chancellor level,” Bowlsby said. “We shared as much information with the athletic directors in as timely a manner as we could, but the board was clear that this was going to be managed at their level. They run this league and (boards) run every league.”
The league spent three months analyzing, vetting and interviewing possible members before deciding last week to take expansion off their agenda. Bowlsby said it was not a decision “not to expand,” but rather an “endorsement and reinvestment in the 10 that we had.”
Oklahoma President David Boren said the decision was unanimous and that no school was discussed or voted on during roughly five hours of deliberations. Among the 11 schools that sought to join the league were Cincinnati, UConn, Houston, BYU and Colorado State.
The expansion discussions were driven primarily by football, because of the massive revenue that comes with the sport. But the Big 12 also generates significant revenue in men’s basketball with marquee programs such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas often on the national stage.
Several league coaches said Tuesday that they support the decision to remain at 10 schools. The smaller number allows them to play a double-round robin schedule, and with few weak schools, that means strong RPI numbers when the NCAA Tournament rolls around.
“Being very, very new to the conference, I’ll be honest, I’ve just kind of taken a back seat,” Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood said. “I’m excited about our members and I think we have a great, great league, and we don’t have to play second fiddle to anybody.”
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has charged a man in connection with a multi-state investigation into Jayhawk Beverage Distributors in Wichita.
The Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control announced Tuesday that an operation targeting the company’s warehouse in Wichita recovered about $70,000 worth of contraband and evidence. The company had been based in Pittsburg, Kansas, before moving to Wichita.
James “Jimmy” A. Hall was arrested late Friday in Wichita. He faces Shawnee County charges including forgery, identity theft, making false information, obtaining a liquor license by fraud, and purchase and distribution of liquor without a license.
Online records do not indicate whether Hall has an attorney, and the Alcoholic Beverage Control said the agency did not know whether he had a defense attorney.
The investigation involved law enforcement agencies in Kansas, California and Florida.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Oklahoma’s wild ride to the Final Four last spring was fueled by Buddy Hield’s shooting, Isaiah Cousins’ court vision and Ryan Spangler’s power in the post.
All of them are gone this season.
The turnover isn’t limited to the Sooners, either.
Of all the leagues playing major college basketball, perhaps none will have a fresher look this season than the Big 12. The old guard that became household names – Georges Niang at Iowa State, Devin Williams at West Virginia and Perry Ellis at Kansas – either graduated or left school early, leaving in their wake dozens of starting jobs at schools across the league.
“Given the number of seniors we had graduate last year, a lot of new roles and minutes available,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. “It’s not great to be young in any league, the Big 12 especially.”
Indeed, looking at the All-Big 12 teams of a year ago is likely to make some fans feel nostalgic, especially when you consider that the entire first team and 11 of the 15 players overall have departed.
That includes Hield, Niang and Ellis, who were joined on the first team by Texas guard Isaiah Taylor and Baylor forward Taurean Prince. Williams and Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. left school after their junior years, while the Cousins and Spangler joined the Mountaineers’ Jaysean Paige and big man Rico Gathers of Baylor in exhausting their eligibility.
KANSAS CITY – A former wedding photographer has been indicted by a federal grand jury as part of a federal investigation into a fraud scheme to dupe dozens of women into having sex – which he recorded – under the guise they were rehearsing for a pornography movie, according to Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Mario Ambrose Antoine, 33, Raymore, MO., was charged in a 21-count indictment returned under seal in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 12, 2016. That indictment was unsealed and made public following Antoine’s arrest and initial court appearance today. Antoine remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016.
The federal indictment alleges that Antoine created a succession of various online aliases in which he posed as a talent manager, photographer and videographer for fictitious companies such as “Playboy Worldwide,” “Playboy Asia,” “Dash Agency,” and other companies that he claimed managed private overseas pornography websites. Beginning in August 2011, Antoine allegedly “auditioned” dozens of victims throughout the greater Kansas City area as models for prospective employment with these fictitious businesses by inducing them to engage in sexual and pornographic activity.
Antoine allegedly promised to pay his victims tens of thousands of dollars for entering into contracts for these modeling shoots and engaging in this sexual activity, which entailed auditions in which the victims performed various sexual activities with Antoine, which he recorded.
Antoine presented his victims with forged and false documents to add an appearance of legitimacy to this scheme, the indictment says, including falsified and forged checks issued to other “models,” IRS tax forms, Department of Homeland Security employment forms and various other documents. Antoine falsely registered several Internet domain names, the indictment says, and created false Facebook profiles.
After many of these victims complained they had not been paid as promised, Antoine allegedly forwarded images of this sexual activity with these victims to their employers and significant others.
On Nov. 12, 2015, Antoine allegedly conducted Google searches for “rape by deception,” “rape by deception kansas,” and “illegal to trick girls into sleeping with you,” and viewed websites and law journals regarding the criminality of committing rape by fraud or deception.
The federal indictment charges Antoine with 12 counts of wire fraud, two counts of cyberstalking, two counts of online enticement, two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement agents, one count of obstructing justice, one count of extortion and one count of the false registration of a domain name.
The federal indictment cites six victims of the alleged scheme (identified as Victims 1 through 6).
The indictment alleges that Antoine promised to pay Victim 1 $1,000 per shoot and produced numerous images and videos of their sexual activity in 2011 and 2012. However, Victim 1 never received any payment from Antoine. In April 2015, Antoine allegedly told her that, in exchange for not selling or distributing the previously produced images and videos of their sexual activity, Victim 1 could either pay him $9,000 or she could come to Antoine’s house and have sex with him. On April 7, 2015, the indictment says, Victim 1 drove to Antoine’s residence to have sex with him in lieu of the payment of $9,000 to avoid the distribution of the pornographic images and videos.
According to the indictment, Antoine sent approximately 15 photos of Victim 1 to Victim 2 in March 2015. Using the alias “Nikki,” he told Victim 2 that the images instead portrayed “Nikki,” who had been paid $24,000 for three 30-minute photo shoots. “Nikki” also told Victim 2 that the images would be sold overseas “so nobody here even knows about it.” Antoine allegedly promised to pay $2,000 to Victim 2 for an “audition” and she engaged in sexual activity with Antoine, which he recorded.
Victim 3 engaged in sexual activity with Antoine in May 2015, the indictment says, which he recorded by taking photographs and making a video recording. When Victim 3 complained to Antoine in August 2015 that he she had never received the payment for her modeling activity, Antoine allegedly sent some of the nude images of Victim 3 taken during the recorded sexual activity to her employer.
According to the indictment, Antoine promised to pay Victim 4 $2,000 for “auditioning.” On April 24, 2015, Antoine allegedly produced and retained images and video recordings of his sexual activity with Victim 4. Between April and July 2015, Victim 4 contacted Antoine numerous times to receive payment, which never occurred. Beginning in June 2015, the indictment says, Antoine (assuming the online alias as “Nikki”) engaged in flirtatious communications with Victim 4’s ex-boyfriend and informed him that Victim 4 and Antoine were now in a relationship. Antoine also allegedly sent messages through the Facebook alias “Dalton Wayne” to Victim 4, referring to her pornographic photos being released and attaching a nude image of Victim 4 to one of the messages.
On May 26, 2015, Victim 5 traveled to Antoine’s residence for sexual activity, which the indictment says was recorded and retained by Antoine, after communicating with Antoine using the Facebook alias of “Nikki.” On Oct. 30, 2015, Antoine, as “Nikki,” sent a series of messages via Facebook to Victim 5’s boyfriend. Antoine informed Victim 5’s boyfriend “she does porn” and suggested that was how she was able to pay for her car. On the same day, Antoine, as “Nikki,” sent images of Victim 5 engaged in sexual activity with Antoine to Victim 5’s boyfriend.
In June 2015, Antoine communicated with Victim 6 using the Facebook alias of “Nikki.” Antoine allegedly sent Victim 6 some of the pornographic images of Victim 1 and claimed that the images instead depicted “Nikki” and that she received thousands of dollars for the photo shoot. On June 18, 2015, Antoine allegedly promised to pay Victim 6 $2,000 as “base compensation” and $8,000 as “special compensation” for “additional productions.” Antoine allegedly produced and retained images and video recordings of his sexual activity with Victim 6.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint (also filed under seal and made public today) Antoine was released from state custody in a separate and unrelated criminal matter on Sept. 10, 2016. Since that time, the affidavit says, he has actively worked to obstruct the due administration of justice in the course of this ongoing criminal investigation. The federal indictment charges Antoine with the obstruction of justice related to this conduct.
On Sept. 27, 2016, Antoine contacted a detective with the Raymore Police Department, according to the affidavit. Antoine allegedly told the detective that a federal agent told him he should be able to retrieve the equipment seized by law enforcement because the FBI was not pursuing this matter any further. Antoine also allegedly claimed that his attorney had reviewed the search warrant and told Antoine it was “improper” and Antoine’s equipment should not have been seized. Antoine provided the name of a specific Kansas City criminal defense attorney, who later told investigators that he doesn’t have an attorney-client relationship with Antoine and had not spoken with him in years. The affidavit also states that Antoine may have created and used a fictitious e-mail account to impersonate the attorney.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities are still identifying additional victims. Anyone who believes they have been victimized by Antoine is urged to contact the FBI at 816-512-8200.
TOPEKA–The goal of JumpStart Kansas Entrepreneur is to incentivize and encourage “new businesses” while developing the entrepreneurial spirit in the state by partnering with our university structure and Network Kansas. This initiative is meant to showcase the tremendous opportunities and inherent resources available to entrepreneurs all across our landscape, both rural and urban.
“We want to target entrepreneurs who do not necessarily have the access or the opportunity to get a jumpstart sort of fund,” said Kansas Commerce Secretary Antonio Soave in a news release Tuesday. “JumpStart Kansas Entrepreneur is early-stage capital. We believe in these Kansas entrepreneurs and we want to help them succeed in their endeavors, so we are willing to be the first money in.
“To choose the entrepreneurs, the Kansas Department of Commerce will utilize our partners’ proven innovation and incubation systems toward a common goal of creating businesses that will ‘invest, thrive, and prosper’ in Kansas,” Soave added.
University partners include:
· Kansas State University (Advanced Manufacturing Institute)
· University of Kansas (Bioscience and Technology Business Center)
· Wichita State University (Innovation Campus)
· Pittsburg State University (Center for Economic and Business Development)
· Fort Hays State University
· Emporia State University
· Washburn University
· Network Kansas
The monies provided must be used toward the goal of creating new businesses for Kansas. These businesses are required to stay in Kansas for a specified period of time. Each partner shall be encouraged to award the monies as they deem appropriate, contingent on final approval from Commerce.
A second phase of the JumpStart Kansas Entrepreneur program, in which the Kansas Department of Commerce will partner with NetWork Kansas, will be announced at a later date.
Governor Brownback during Tuesday’s press conference
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The annual American Royal horse and livestock exhibition in Kansas City is moving to Kansas from Missouri.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and American Royal officials announced the move Tuesday during a news conference at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
Brownback’s administration has been working for months to lure the full, weeks-long exhibition to the Kansas side.
The 117-year-old American Royal is one of Kansas City’s most fabled cultural institutions, drawing nearly 270,000 people.
The American Royal has made the decision to relocate the American Royal operations to Wyandotte County, KS. The new complex will include two arenas, multi-function exhibit space, increased stalling areas, and a new Agriculture Education Center (proposed design pictured).
American Royal officials have already moved the exhibition’s signature barbecue competition that begins Wednesday to the speedway.
Some Kansas legislators have voiced concern that to lure the American Royal, the state would promise a major development project on the Kansas side and finance it with bonds backed by sales tax revenues.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State University’s economics club says the cost of being a student at the university continues to rise faster than the rate of inflation.
The Manhattan Mercury reports that since 2002, the club has measured the Student Price Index, which is similar to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Consumer Price Index.
The student index takes into account the costs that the average student faces like housing, tuition, gas, groceries and textbooks.
The Student Price Index rose by 2 percent this year. The average increase since the club started tracking the index has been 7 percent.
Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference October 25, 2016
Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown conducted his weekly press conference in advance of the Tigers road game at No. 10 Emporia State Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium. Brown and select players met with the media inside Lewis Field on Tuesday, a session that can be heard by clicking on the links below.
WaKeeney resident Wanda (Staab) Pfannenstiel passed away Monday, October 24, 2016, at her home.
She was born June 21, 1951 to Joseph A. Staab and Louise (Meier) Staab in Hays, KS. She grew up and attended schools in Hays and Catharine, KS and graduated from Marian High School in Hays in 1969. She worked at Travenol. She was united in marriage to Tom Pfannenstiel, on August 10, 1973 in Catharine. Over the years, she worked as asst. Clerk of the District Court of Trego County, as secretary at Verbeck’s Lumber Company, and as library aide at WaKeeney Grade School.
She served on the WaKeeney Public Library board and the Christ the King Catholic Church Altar Society in WaKeeney, KS. She played bridge and pinochle in several groups. Wanda loved to read, but her real passion was spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren and “granddog” Bailey. Wanda was preceded in death by her father.
Survivors include her mother Louise of Hays; husband Tom of WaKeeney; 2 daughters Joy (Pfannenstiel) Brandau and husband Jason of Shawnee, KS and Laura (Pfannenstiel) Ross and husband Kevin of Edwardsville, KS; 2 grandchildren Abigail and Brayden Ross, and “granddog” Bailey; 2 brothers Garry and wife JoAnn of Hays, and Dennis and wife Diane of Basehor, KS; 6 sisters Barbara McCormick, Sharon Howard, Diana Staab and Pam Munsch and husband Cory, all of Hays, KS, Donna Perez and husband Gabe of Lenexa, KS, and Joann Lang and husband Brian of Shawnee, KS; and many beloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
A mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 AM, Friday October 28, 2016 at Christ the King Catholic Church, WaKeeney. Burial will be at the church cemetery. Visitation will be Thursday, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Schmitt Funeral Home, WaKeeney. A parish vigil service will be at 7:00 PM at Christ the King Catholic Church.
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS memorial contributions are suggested to Christ the King Catholic Church Building Fund or WaKeeney Public Library. Checks made to either organization may be sent in care of Schmitt Funeral Home, 336 North 12th, WaKeeney, KS 67672.
Condolences may be left for the family via online guest book at www.schmittfuneral.com.
Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference
