Spicer death decision done?

   Much has been made about whether Mike Sanders will seek the death penalty in the Spicer case, a.k.a. the Independence snuff murder, and the timing of any such announcement.

   He says no decision before the Aug. 8 primary so politics wouldn't be seen as intruding. But in a recent interview, he tipped his hand.

   When asked him why needed to hire attorney Tim Dollar in the Precious Doe cases and why didn't he have enough qualified full-time attorneys on hand to handle the three current death penalty cases, Sanders replied his office was busy.

    "We've got four death-penalty cases right now that we've got. You've got Johnson, Blair, Gilyard and soon to be a fourth," he said.

    Asked about the pending # 4, he said he couldn't talk about it, but then named the defendants in the Spicer case.

    Posted by DeAnn Smith

Comments

If you are a proponent of the death penalty, these defendants deserve it. Wonder what the spin is going to be coming out of the Wheeler camp? Either way this went, they were going to feign unhappiness at the decision.

I cannot beleive we are still making death penalty cases political .Sanders why dont you just rent arrowhead and put them on display for a fundraiser. How disgusting and crude i will not vote for sanders under any condition ,just to send a message quit monkeying with peoples lifes for your political gain.I AM MAD

[arewethereyet]

There indeed is NO WAY to spin this savage murder. To try suggest a political motive in any aspect of this case is brutal. As for timing, we can not manipulate either way the pre-trial proceedings to suit a political contest. If Mr. Sanders is preparing a case against these beastly things, then I, for one, applaud him in not speaking about specifics of the murder trial. Let's leave this one out of our political witches brew. The families need some peace.

"Sanders why dont you just rent arrowhead and put them on display for a fundraiser."

What did I tell you; it only took them 10 minutes to start their spin. The Wheeler supporters really have no shame; they should know when to keep their fingers off the keyboard.

[arewethereyet]

In the name of decency to the families, let's stop this stream now. No one won. Please.

Of course the decision is done, Sanders just has too much class to announce the decision in the middle of a campaign.

[David Novak]

Death penalty decisions aside, the Star's endorsement of Mike Sanders for County Exec would appear to close the door on Charles Wheeler. It will now be very difficult for Wheeler to win this race. You can argue about the Star's influence and the way Sanders runs the Prosecutor's Office, but this endorsement coupled with Wheeler's poor voting record, campaign gaffs and concerns about his age will be extremely tough to overcome. The Star rightly points out that Wheeler can best serve the community as an "advocate for civic progress."

[KCHotDog]

If you drive by Wheeler Headquarters, you can hear the fat lady singing already. Yes, its Katheryn limbering up her vocal cords.

[Eyes on Prize]

Sanders people:

Make no mistake - the dirty tricks puppet masters pulling Wheeler's strings aren't done yet. So don't get cocky.

With more than a week to go, there is still plenty of time for sneaky little mailers filled with Shields' fantasy lies about Sanders...

Still time for plenty of Phil Cardarella's exagerated "statistics" and general buffoonery...

Still time for Glorioso's brain washing and arm twisting of editors and reporters and columnists to plant ridiculous stories and yarns...

Don't underestimate this crowd's venom. Or their single-minded quest to keep a choke hold on power and money.

On a lighter note...
Where's Waldo?

Since this thread has switched topics, I will post my blog here.

I applaud the Kansas City Star for making what I believe is the right decision in the County Executive race. As I have mentioned before, I talked a girlfriend of mine into attending the candidate's forum in Lee's Summit. I became so concerned by what I witnessed at the LS forum, I went to the Independence forum to see if it had just been a bad day for Senator Wheeler - a fluke. But he was even worse the second time I saw him. He had to have 3 questions repeated, and for pity's sake one was why he was running for office. Other times, he would answer the question with something completely unrelated to the question. One example, he was asked about his plans for dealing with the Jackson County budget and he spent the balance of his time talking about Missouri having good medical doctors, there being no need to have whistle blowers in offices, etc. (LS) One time he was asked about the far north section of Jackson County which is heavily industrialized (given the nickname "Harlem"). He spent the balance of his time talking about the attributes of the downtown airport such as plenty of parking. It is quite possible Senator Wheeler has a problem with his memory. To anyone without an agenda, it is painfully obvious Senator Wheeler is not capable of performing the duties of the County Executive. I am in no way trying to diminish Senator Wheeler's public service nor am I an age basher. I am just being honest and realistic. I sincerely believe he cannot do the job. I know Senator Wheeler's supporters are going to attack me, but I really felt the need to tell everyone my thoughts on this.

Thank you,
Jane

[Karl Wilson]

Just saw the TV ad about Wheeler's poor voting record. It points out that Charlie missed 133 votes this year, more than Senator Harry Wiggins missed in 28 years. Wheeler is quoted in the Star as saying "I didn't go down there to break Harry Wiggins' record for consecutive voting." Boy, Wheeler is certainly right about that. His poor attendance is certain to hurt him badly with voters because it shows he can't handle the work load.

Sorry, I wanted to mention that I stronly urge everyone watch the broadcast (on Comcast) of the League of Women Voters forum which was held in Independence. Please watch the broadcast and come to your own conclusion. - Jane

Hey Karl, I saw the ad too. Wheeler's silhouette is morphed into his photo (Where did they get that pic? Ouch!) and the voting records for the entire Senate come up with Wheeler's being last. Effective. Gets the point across.

Wheeler campaign is in full tilt:

1) Senator Wheeler has his feathers ruffled by DeAnn's brief questioning at KCUR. He can't keep his composure, starts shouting, and raises his hand to her.
2) Since the KCUR incident, Senator Wheeler has made 0 public appearances - days away from the primary election.
3) The Mayor Messerli press conference is a disaster, with the Mayor refusing to read the Wheeler campaign's prepared statement. Later, she telephones members of the media to let them know she was being blackmailed into giving Wheeler her endorsement.
4) The press release by Kathryn Shields which followed the Mayor Messerli incident is ignored by the media. When contacted by Kathryn's office, they indicate they are not interested.
5) Senator Wheeler has a poor showing at the Independence League of Women Voters forum, which is taped and rebroadcast on Comcast. In the forum, the Senator has to have 3 questions repeated - including why he is running for office. In addition, on several questions he rambles and does not answer what was asked of him.
6) Senator Wheeler's poor voting record, and the fact that he admits to falling asleep on the floor of the Senate, is printed in the KC Star.
7) Several local talk radio shows, including Jerry Agar and Darla J, run segments on Wheeler which do not help his campaign. Agar states Wheeler cannot do the job.
8) Ruckus airs a blistering show which not only attacks the Senator, but his handlers as well.
9) The Kansas City star endorses Mike Sanders for the County Executive position.

This race IS NOT OVER, but it is not looking good for Wheeler either.

[countyshmounty]

I've seen a few comments posted before from Senator Wheeler's book "Doctor in Politics", so I went out and got myself a copy. Written like a diary it can be tedious, but there are some things that just jump off the page -- statements that should really see the light of day. In modern times, that is.

Note to those drinking the Wheeler Kool-Aid: Before you have a hissy fit, remember, this is IN YOUR CANDIDATE'S OWN WORDS. Let's start easy, with a subject the Wheelies love to crow about: the Truman Sports Complex. You know, the one Wheeler takes sole credit for.

"The County Court had just taken office in January. We were fortunate to have a comprehensive bond proposal that had been prepared by the preceding administration, relying on a citizens commmittee headed by Abe Yeddis."

Hmm. Prepared by the previous administration, including a citizens committee...

Wheeler continues, writing:
"Dutton Brookfield, Sports Authority Chairman, was pressing the court for a decision. Curry and Petrovic were out of town. I was allowed to select the day of June 27, 1967, for the election."

Oh, now, there we go.
Wheeler got to do something.
He got to (pause for drum roll)
He "was allowed to" select the election date. Yep, sure sounds like Wheeler's project to me.

By the way, the court he's talking about was the 3 person County Court. And who, you may ask, was the Presiding Judge of the County Court? Charles...

Curry. Charles CURRY. NOT Charles Wheeler.

If anyone on the County Court could assume any credit for the Truman Sports Complex, it would be Curry. Not Wheeler.

Tune in again soon! For another episode of the continuing saga:
CHARLES B. WHEELER - IN HIS OWN WORDS.

[George]

Don't forget to watch Ruckus! on KCPT channel 19, Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m.
Tune in for what Yael LEFT OUT of the Star's endorsement of Sanders over Wheeler.

Just a point of clarification from the original post:

"We've got four death-penalty cases right now that we've got. You've got Johnson, Blair, Gilyard and soon to be a fourth," he said.

There are two people charged in the Spicer case - Davis and Riley - which added to the other three makes five. When Sanders says there are four death penalty cases, does that mean Davis and Riley will be tried together? Or will they only seek the death penalty for one of them (which doesn't seem likely since both of them are supposedly implicated in the video tapes). Am I reading too much in this or it a case of fuzzy math where 1+1+1+2=4?

Dear KCHotDog,

Your name fits you. Your comment about the "fat lady singing" over at Wheeler Headquarters is a little premature. The only fat person involved is Jim Nutter, Sr. Kraske in no ways hears any fat lady singing, so Hot Dog just sit tight. My money is on the ultimate professional Kraske who picked Wheeler as the winner.

[KCHotDog]

Kraske said on KCPT recently he thought a Sanders win was very possible. Go figure. In any event, just to double check, I drove by Wheeler HQ's again and sure enough the fat lady was still singing. Couldn't tell who she was, but it looked to be someone we all know.