UPDATED: Edwin Hall pleads guilty

PREVIOUSLY: He's pleading guilty ... DA Kline is laying out the whole crime, how she was taken, how she was killed and how investigators were able to tie Hall to the scene. Sentencing continues in September.

The Kelsey Smith Foundation
One of the early AP takes on the case, after Hall was arrested.
CSKC -- Missing: Kelsey Smith, 18
CSKC -- Update: Do you know this man?
Pitch: Edwin Hall Speaks
Bonnie's Blog of Crime -- should have more reaction later.
More coverage from KMBC, KSHB,  KCTV and WDAF.

UPDATED: I think the one silver lining here is the Smith family gets spared the trial -- we won't have to listen to wild defense theories why it couldn't possibly have been Hall responsible, when he clearly was. I wonder how long the attorneys have been talking about this as an option.

I think a lot of people were looking forward to Hall being shuffled off the mortal coil, courtesy of the taxpayers. But this might be a better punishment. He's a very young man, and I don't think he'll ever see the outside of a prison again.

Comments

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

Wow.... He pleaded guilty... After all the posturing by the defense, I thought it would be a very long and drawn out event.

Hopefully it wasn't part of a plea deal to prevent him from getting the death penalty.

[Tam]

He makes me so sick to my stomach... everything about him.

[j]

Maybe now we'll stop hearing from those bleeding heart wackjobs that think he was framed.

[Jellybean]

HOORAY! When DNA ruled out the other suspects - we can be pretty sure it ruled him in. Good for the Smith's!

[Sasquach]

Holy crap. Didn't see that coming. At least the determination of guilt is out of PK's hands now.

[The_Golfer]

The plead terminated the federal case after him and I bet took the death penalty off the table.

He will be in segregated lock up forever.

Unless he does a Dahlmer and asks to be let out knowing he will be killed. Assisted suicide.

[riskybzns]

and they needed extra protection for a guilty plea. hell, i was thinking more along the lines as if the case was getting tossed out.
good for the smith's!

[James Hart]

My boss and I were talking about this. He's a very young guy -- and a very young-LOOKING guy. The next few decades aren't going to be particularly gentle for Hall.

[*sexy*]

and they shouldnt be.

[The_Golfer]

James - that is right unless he gets segregated lock up, which I suspect he will get. Segregated lock up for prisoner that are at risk of being hurt, raped, beaten, killed, if put in GP.

Hall qualifies.

I am surprised there has not been a special prison built for just such folks yet. And run by a private company.

[You're a Mean Drunk R2D2™]

Oh he better be in general pop and be able to spend many decades of forcible rape and sodomy every day of his life. Then maybe when he's in his 60's finally get raped by Bubba's deliquent grand child who will tear him in half and he dies that way.

[Truth Teller]

Let's hope the victim's family can forgive him or otherwise move on with their life and cherish their memories of their family...hate only destroys it's vessel.

[The G]

Well, this is a step in the right direction, but I have to admit I am still very sad and depressed with the whole situation. I am happy for the Smith family that they were able to track this jackass quickly, and they didnt have to go through what the Kemp family did in the search for Ali's killer.

I knew Ali, I didn't know Kelsey, but the depravity and loss in both cases is suffocating. On top of that, Hall has a wife and daughter who will have a lifetime of torment and pain unless they can somehow break free of the cycle as well. They should charge him with crimes against his own family too, as they are certainly victims of him as well.

He is guilty and needs to pay, but it doesnt mean I feel any better about the whole situation.

[aqua]

Looks like Phill Kline really botched this case up, just like all the Tiller fans said he was going to.

//sarcasm off

[msj]

Truth Teller, I agree with you. A favorite quote of mine is "Why do we kill people to show that killing people is wrong?" My initial reaction is that EH should be fried, ripped apart, tortured... but then my true beliefs take over and I remember that hate only hurts the vessel.

[Curmudgeon]

Way to go Phill, Great job!! All of the defenses very public criticism and blustering couldn't defeat the evidence your team amassed. The trial would have been a slam dunk for a guilty verdict with the death penalty and the defense realized it when Judge Ruddick refused to take it off the table.

Accepting the plea also spares the family the trauma of the trial. All around very good work by the DA and his office.

[Jellybean]

Also, doesn't Hall have a kid? Better to have Dad in prison, I suppose. Poor kid.

[six pack]

Mr. Hall. I have a suggestion for your next (or first) tatoo. I would have "exit-only" inked somewhere near the rectum. Not that anybody can read, or would care to.

[Truth Teller]

Jellybeans misandry can't be stopped.

[Jellybean]

TruthTeller - If I think it's better for a kid to have a living Dad in prison than one put to death - to you that means I hate men? You're not making any sense.
I just thought I had read somewhere that he had a little boy, and if so, that poor kid is going to have it rough.

[cja]

Listening to the factual basis is difficult. The system, as it usually does, worked. Hall will never see freedom again, and he shouldn't. The defense lawyers did a good job protecting all our rights by protecting even someone as despicable as Hall.

[Tired of Murderers]

Aqua and Curmudgeon, PK didn't win the guilty plea from Hall. The Johnson County Sheriffs' Office, the various other law enforcement agencies who collected and analyzed the evidence, and the people who identified Hall won this case.

[cja]

the timing is interesting. The court just ruled the prosecution may proceed and seek the death penalty.

Republican primary in 2 weeks.

The sentencing will be shortly before the general election.

[Curmudgeon]

Tired, I'm sure you're one of the head-in-the-sand Moonbats who like to call Phill Kline a "one trick pony". The fact here is that his office presided over this case and brought it to a rapid and successful conclusion.

I doubt that either Edwin Hall or John Henry Horton think Phill Kline is lacking as D.A.

[ghost]

Kline did a great job. I just wish they could have given this creep the death penalty instead of taxpayers shelling out for his food, keep, medical care, entertainment, therapy, and what else they give him for the rest of his miserable life. Put him in gen pop and see how long before he is dead.
But as I say....Kline did a great job. No expensive trial and no long strain on a already stressed family of the victim. I don't see why people "dog" Kline so much.

[ghost]

Listen tired,
Prosecutors can make or break a case...no matter how good the evidence is. Don't discount that.
In Henry County they have a guy who executed a old man who was the gramps of his ex wife. Robbed him and shot him in the head...got a confession from the guy who helped him....got stolen property...got DNA....got the weapon, but because it is a crappy prosecutor...they are not asking for the death penalty because this prosecutor has messed up the evidence and best he might get is 20 to life. Prosecutor makes or breaks it. Kline did a great job.

[Sasquach]

Do you folks not remember that PK almost got the death penalty kicked for sloppy paperwork? What are the odds Hall would have confessed had capital punishment been off the table? PK got lucky on a few of the rulings that could have been disasterous to his case. I'd rather not see the DA have to depend on luck for cases like this.

[short timer]

because of halls associations i still believe more people were involved. the guilty plea is to stop the larger investigation.

[short timer]

because of halls associations i still believe more people were involved. the guilty plea is to stop the larger investigation.

[liberal]

Kline did a good job..It takes teamwork between the Prosecutor and Police.. Ever watch "Law and Order"??

I am sure that St. Paul ("I committed adultery and resigned" Morrison also messed up some of his paperwork. The "Red" Star also makes mistakes,,, just like their article on the size of the Sprint Center seats... However, they always get a pass.
If Fed's prosecution of the five convicted bombers of the KC Firefighters proves The "Red" Star wrong, will we get a retraction?