Sept. 8
TEXAS:
Levi King Trial: Day 3
Day 3 of testimony in the capital murder trial of Levi King has wrapped
up.
The 27-year-old pleaded guilty last week to murdering Brian Conrad, his
pregnant wife Michell, and her teenage son Zach Doan in September 2005 at
their Pampa farmhouse. Michell's daughter 10-year-old Robin Doan was the
only survivor.
King faces life in prison or the death penalty. After the Pampa murders,
King fled to Mexico in the maroon truck that he stole from a couple in
Missouri after he murdered them.
As he was re-entering the United States, on the evening of September 30th,
an agent with U.S. Customs and Border Protection noticed the maroon truck
because of how close it was to the car in front of it. When the agent
approached King, he told the jury, the defendant seemed very nervous and
shaky, and King provided the agent with Brian Conrad's id.
When King could not correctly identify the birthday on the id, the agent
asked him if he had any firearms, and King said he did and that it was
loaded. The agent says he then handcuffed King and took him into custody
with no resistance.
Another U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent described King as calm,
cool, and collected. When asked who was in the picture id, he said it was
his brother, and some family members in the courtroom cringed.
A 3rd customs agent that questioned King, described his demeanor as calm
and nonchalant, and said that when he looked at you, he had an evil stare.
The defense argued that was nowhere in the agent's original statement.
Once King was in custody at the Bridge of Americas in El Paso, his name
was entered into a database and agents found there was an active warrant
for his arrest, for a double homicide in Pineville, Missouri. U.S. Customs
and Border Protection found 4 loaded firearms in the truck, and those were
presented as evidence in court on Tuesday.
Last to take the stand on Tuesday were 2 El Paso detectives.
King was questioned by detectives, and that video tape was presented to
the jury late this afternoon. In the interview, King confessed to killing
the Missouri couple after fighting about stray horses. King said he
grabbed a gun off a table, killed the couple, and fled in their maroon
truck.
Trial will resume Wednesday at 8:00 am.
(source: KCBD News)