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Thread: Kyle Eckardt Sentenced to Life in 1986 Murder of Kathy Engle

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    Kyle Eckardt Sentenced to Life in 1986 Murder of Kathy Engle

    Okla. DA seeking death penalty in 1986 murder case

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma County prosecutors say an anonymous phone call concerning a prison confession has convinced them to seek the death penalty against a suspect in a 1986 homicide case.

    Because 45-year-old Kyle Richard Eckardt already has been arraigned, prosecutors must ask a judge for permission to pursue the death penalty in the case. District Judge Lisa Davis has scheduled an Aug. 18 hearing.

    Eckardt has pleaded not guilty to killing 41-year-old Kathy Sue Engle, who was abducted on April 23, 1986, at an Oklahoma City mall. Her body was found a week later in far western Oklahoma.

    Prosecutors have said DNA evidence from Engle's car linked Eckardt to her death. They say information from the April 2007 anonymous call to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation gave them new insight into how Engle died.

    http://www.newschannel6now.com/Global/story.asp?S=12718965

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    Oklahoma judge allows death penalty in cold case


    OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma County judge said the death penalty can be sought against a 46-year-old man accused of killing a Yukon woman more than 24 years ago.


    The ruling on Monday came in the case of Kyle Eckardt, who is charged with first-degree murder in the April 23, 1986, abduction and slaying of Kathy Engle. Eckardt has denied involvement in the crime.

    Prosecutors needed permission from District Judge Lisa Tipping Davis to seek the death penalty because Eckardt already had a post-preliminary hearing arraignment. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals requires prosecutors to inform defense attorneys either before or at arraignment that the death penalty will be sought so that lawyers will have adequate time to prepare.

    Prosecutors said new information about the crime became known after Eckardt's arraignment.


    Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic...0_OLHMIY518549

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    In a 1986 Oklahoma City cold case, former drifter sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole

    In an infamous cold case, a former drifter was sentenced Friday to prison for murdering a woman 25 years ago after kidnapping her from an Oklahoma City shopping mall.

    Kyle Richard Eckardt, 46, agreed to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    He told the judge in writing that he does not admit to the acts but did not want to risk getting the death penalty at trial.

    “Kyle, your actions are despicable. … Our family will never forgive you,” the victim's older sister told him in an Oklahoma County courtroom.

    Prosecutors allege he killed Kathy Sue Engle after he and an accomplice abducted her on April 23, 1986, outside Oklahoma City's Shepherd Mall.

    The victim was 41. She lived in Yukon with her husband and two children, then 8 and 13.

    The older sister, Mary Ann Jones, who lives in Iowa, told Eckardt the family now finally will have some peace knowing he will never be able to bully, terrorize or torture any woman again.

    The victim's daughter, Kristine S. Ervin, of Dallas, told Eckardt he was cowardly to hurt women.

    “It is cowardly the way you killed my mother. You couldn't even face her,” she said.

    Eckardt was charged in 2009 with first-degree murder in Engle's death. He was linked to the crime from DNA evidence found in the victim's abandoned car. Prosecutors believe he raped her and cut her throat.

    A second suspect, Steven A. Boerner, later was identified from a fingerprint on the car's steering wheel. Boerner, an ex-convict from Michigan, died in 1992 in a trucking accident.

    Family accepts deal

    An oil-field worker found the victim's unclothed and bound body on April 30, 1986, in a meadow in far western Oklahoma near Interstate 40. “Pretty grisly sight,” the man testified at a preliminary hearing.

    The victim's car, a 1981 Dodge Colt, had been found earlier — on April 25, 1986 — at a truck stop in New Mexico.

    The punishment Friday was the result of a plea deal that the victim's family supported.

    After the sentencing, the victim's husband, Dawson A. Engle, told the news media the family accepted the sentence largely because the case is now over and done.

    “I'll readily admit that I would have liked the death penalty for him,” said the widower, who now lives in Shawnee. “But we also recognize that a jury trial, even a conviction with all of its appeals that follow, would just keep us on this roller coaster.”

    Eckardt entered what is known as an Alford plea to the first-degree murder charge. The name comes from a 1970 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

    District Attorney David Prater said the Supreme Court agreed a criminal defendant can take a plea deal to avoid a worse punishment without admitting guilty. He said a defendant must basically say he understands there is a high likelihood that a jury would find him guilty because of the evidence.

    The prosecutor said it is not the same as a no contest plea. He said Eckardt is now a convicted murderer.

    Putting it behind them

    The victim's husband and both children said they now will put Eckardt out of their thoughts.

    “Today, we have finally received justice,” said the victim's son, Dawson R. Engle, a judge in Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties. “Over the years, I would see news stories about a cold case being solved, and I would always wonder why that couldn't happen for us. I had given up hope when we were informed of the DNA match.”

    Ervin, the victim's daughter, credited her brother for encouraging the police to keep working on the case. “He really didn't give up hope even though he just said he did,” she said.

    Prater turned emotional at the news conference while praising the victim's family, particularly her husband.

    Prater said to the widower: “You've been an example to every man who ever made a promise and a vow to a woman. You raised these two precious children to become fine successful people. You've handled yourself honorably.”

    The prosecutor told the family, “She's lived through you. … There's no such thing as closure. We all know that. This is just another step in the journey but I'm glad that this part of the journey is behind you.”

    Eckardt's DNA was collected for law enforcement records when he went to prison in 2008 for assaulting a Tulsa woman who died. The woman's naked body was found in her apartment's bath tub, but the medical examiner could not determine how she died.

    Read more: http://newsok.com/in-a-1986-oklahoma...#ixzz1YDhAJxW0

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