Suspect Charged With Kansas Teen's Abuction, Murder
26-year-old Edwin R. Hall is being held on $5 million bond.
June 7, 2007 — -- One day after the discovery of Kelsey Smith's body, Edwin R. Hall was charged with the 18-year-old's abduction and murder.
Overland Park, Kan., authorities charged 26-year-old Hall today with premeditated first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the Johnson County Court Web site. Bond was set at $5 million.
Hall is scheduled to appear at the Johnson County Courthouse this afternoon. Brian Burgess, spokesman for the Johnson County district attorney's office, said Hall would appear via closed-circuit television from the nearby jail where he is being held.
If convicted, Hall faces a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the murder charge and more than 12 years for aggravated kidnapping, according to Burgess.
With Smith's parents looking on, police in Overland Park, Kan., made an announcement late Wednesday night that Hall had been arrested.
Police found Smith's body in a wooded area near Grandview, Mo., about 20 miles east of the Target store where police believe Smith was abducted. Authorities did not say how she died.
"We cannot give them their daughter back, but we can at least give them justice," Overland Park police Chief John Douglass said.
Smith was last seen leaving a Target store Saturday after shopping for a gift for her boyfriend. A grainy surveillance tape showed Smith being forced into her car in the store's parking lot at around 7:10 p.m.
Her car was found about two hours later in a nearby mall parking lot.
Wednesday, investigators identified Hall as the man seen on the surveillance tape leaving the Target store right after Smith.
Hall lived near the store where cameras captured him and his Chevrolet pickup truck following Smith. Police would not comment on a motive. Authorities said they received hundreds of tips from the community, which led to his arrest.
Frantic calls from her parents and boyfriend to Smith's cell phone Saturday night left an electronic trail that allowed the FBI to trace the body, said special agent Jeff Lanza.
The outgoing teen who had just graduated high school was remembered at a memorial service Wednesday.
"She lived more in 18 years than most people do with a great deal more time," her father, Greg Smith, said during the service.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
