BARTON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating three Kansas men for alleged drug distribution.

Just before 6p.m. Tuesday, police and Barton County Sheriff’s Deputies executed a narcotic search warrant at 214 West 1st Street in Ellinwood, according to a media release.

Officers located a substantial amount of suspected methamphetamine along with packing materials and distribution paraphernalia. 

Officers arrested the homeowner 57-year-old Eugene Patrick Merica and 70-year-old roommate Stewart William Clay.

 A third suspect 42-year-old Steven Brian Merica was not home at the time of the search and was later arrested at a residence in Ellinwood.

All three suspects were transported to Barton County Jail, where they were booked on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of marijuana, and no drug tax stamp in lieu of 300,000-dollar bond.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610638288205.png" alt="Stephen Merica -photo Barton Co." />
 <figcaption>Stephen Merica -photo Barton Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>BARTON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating three Kansas men for alleged drug distribution.Just before 6p.m. Tuesday, police and Barton County Sheriff’s Deputies executed a narcotic search warrant at 214 West 1st Street in Ellinwood, according to a media release.Officers located a substantial amount of suspected methamphetamine along with packing materials and distribution paraphernalia. Officers arrested the homeowner 57-year-old Eugene Patrick Merica and 70-year-old roommate Stewart William Clay.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610638326301.png" alt="Roommates Stewart Clay and Eugene Merica" />
 <figcaption>Roommates Stewart Clay and Eugene Merica</figcaption>
 </figure> A third suspect 42-year-old Steven Brian Merica was not home at the time of the search and was later arrested at a residence in Ellinwood.All three suspects were transported to Barton County Jail, where they were booked on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of marijuana, and no drug tax stamp in lieu of 300,000-dollar bond..

70-year-old Kan. man accused of meth distribution 

MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to more than a year in prison and fined $310,000 for poaching 60 deer in southern Kansas, state wildlife officials said.

John Blick, Jr., 28, of Sharon, pleaded guilty in November to 139 hunting-related counts in Barber County, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also was charged with 33 misdemeanors in Harper County in the killing of three trophy deer.

Blick was sentenced to 14 months in prison, the Kansas Wildlife, Parks &amp; Tourism department said Thursday. He was also ordered to pay the agency $310,000, which is the estimated value of the deer.

Blick was arrested after a multi-year investigation involving several agencies. The wildlife department said information gathered during the investigation could lead to future prosecutions of other wildlife violators.

Some of the charges against Blick included criminal hunting, hunting from a vehicle, using artificial light, exceeding bag limits and hunting without a license.

The deer heads will be destroyed and equipment and firearms will be forfeited to the state of Kansas, authorities said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610645880918.png" alt="Blick-photo Harper Co." />
 <figcaption>Blick-photo Harper Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>MEDICINE LODGE, Kan. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to more than a year in prison and fined $310,000 for poaching 60 deer in southern Kansas, state wildlife officials said.John Blick, Jr., 28, of Sharon, pleaded guilty in November to 139 hunting-related counts in Barber County, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also was charged with 33 misdemeanors in Harper County in the killing of three trophy deer.Blick was sentenced to 14 months in prison, the Kansas Wildlife, Parks &amp; Tourism department said Thursday. He was also ordered to pay the agency $310,000, which is the estimated value of the deer.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610645665123.png" alt="photo courtesy KDWPT Game Wardens" />
 <figcaption>photo courtesy KDWPT Game Wardens</figcaption>
 </figure>Blick was arrested after a multi-year investigation involving several agencies. The wildlife department said information gathered during the investigation could lead to future prosecutions of other wildlife violators.Some of the charges against Blick included criminal hunting, hunting from a vehicle, using artificial light, exceeding bag limits and hunting without a license.The deer heads will be destroyed and equipment and firearms will be forfeited to the state of Kansas, authorities said.

Kan. man going back to prison, fined $310K for poaching

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a deadly shooting and have made an arrest.

Just after 5:30a.m. Wednesday, police&nbsp;responded to a welfare call at 13th&nbsp;and Oliver in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.&nbsp; A citizen reported&nbsp; 39-year-old Jason Payne lying face down in the middle of the street at the intersection.&nbsp; 

Upon arrival, officers contacted Payne who needed medical assistance.&nbsp; He was transported to an area hospital, treated, and released.

Through the investigation of this incident, information was learned of a man possibly being injured at a home in the 900 block of North Oliver.&nbsp; Officers went to the home and found a male unresponsive.&nbsp; He was pronounced deceased on the scene and is believed to be a family member of Payne.

The investigation revealed a physical disturbance occurred at the home, and investigators are still working to learn additional details of what occurred, according to Davidson.

Police arrested Payne on a requested charge of first-degree murder, according to Davidson.

This was not a random incident, and the case will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610628823403.png" alt="Payne photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Payne photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a deadly shooting and have made an arrest.Just after 5:30a.m. Wednesday, police&nbsp;responded to a welfare call at 13th&nbsp;and Oliver in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.&nbsp; A citizen reported&nbsp; 39-year-old Jason Payne lying face down in the middle of the street at the intersection.&nbsp; Upon arrival, officers contacted Payne who needed medical assistance.&nbsp; He was transported to an area hospital, treated, and released.Through the investigation of this incident, information was learned of a man possibly being injured at a home in the 900 block of North Oliver.&nbsp; Officers went to the home and found a male unresponsive.&nbsp; He was pronounced deceased on the scene and is believed to be a family member of Payne.The investigation revealed a physical disturbance occurred at the home, and investigators are still working to learn additional details of what occurred, according to Davidson.Police arrested Payne on a requested charge of first-degree murder, according to Davidson.This was not a random incident, and the case will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Police find Kan. murder suspect lying in the street

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities&nbsp; investigating an exchange of gunfire in in Shawnee County have made an arrest.

Just before 8:30p.m. January 8, deputies responded to the area of NW Beecher Road and NW Netherland Drive on a report of gunfire exchanged between two individuals, according to deputy Abigail Christian.

When deputies arrived, it was reported that 27-year-old&nbsp; Zachery R. Nelson arrived at a private residence and after a brief argument, fired multiple rounds at another individual.&nbsp;The victim also returned gunfire. There were no injuries. The Shawnee County Sheriff's Department asked the public for help to locate Nelson.

Just before 3p.m. Wednesday, Deputies arrested Nelson at a residence in the 8000 block of SW 23rd Terrace without incident. Nelson was transported to the Law Enforcement Center for further questioning and then booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of first degree murder, aggravated assault, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, criminal discharge of a firearm at an unoccupied dwelling, criminal damage and criminal threat.

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating an exchange of gunfire and continue to ask the community’s assistance locating a suspect..

On Friday, January 8, 2021, shortly before 8:30 p.m., deputies responded to the area of NW Beecher Road and NW Netherland Drive on a report of gunfire exchanged between two individuals, according to deputy Abigail Christian.

When deputies arrived, it was reported that 27-year-old&nbsp; Zachery R. Nelson arrived at a private residence and after a brief argument, fired multiple rounds at another individual. 

The victim also returned gunfire. At this time, no injuries have been reported.

Information was received that Nelson was possibly located at a residence in the 3700 block of SW 12th Street, in Topeka. Deputies attempted to locate Nelson at the residence but didn't find him.

Nelson is described as a white male, 5-feet-11 inches tall, 165 pounds, with blonde hair and green eyes. He was last seen driving a dark blue 2011 GMC Canyon pickup truck.

Authorities asked citizens to not approach Nelson, but call 911.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610621887234.png" alt="Nelson photo Shawnee County" />
 <figcaption>Nelson photo Shawnee County</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities&nbsp; investigating an exchange of gunfire in in Shawnee County have made an arrest.Just before 8:30p.m. January 8, deputies responded to the area of NW Beecher Road and NW Netherland Drive on a report of gunfire exchanged between two individuals, according to deputy Abigail Christian.When deputies arrived, it was reported that 27-year-old&nbsp; Zachery R. Nelson arrived at a private residence and after a brief argument, fired multiple rounds at another individual.&nbsp;The victim also returned gunfire. There were no injuries. The Shawnee County Sheriff's Department asked the public for help to locate Nelson.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610223630844.png" alt="Police on the scene of the shooting investigation WIBW" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the shooting investigation WIBW</figcaption>
 </figure>Just before 3p.m. Wednesday, Deputies arrested Nelson at a residence in the 8000 block of SW 23rd Terrace without incident. Nelson was transported to the Law Enforcement Center for further questioning and then booked him into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of first degree murder, aggravated assault, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle, criminal discharge of a firearm at an unoccupied dwelling, criminal damage and criminal threat.----------SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating an exchange of gunfire and continue to ask the community’s assistance locating a suspect..On Friday, January 8, 2021, shortly before 8:30 p.m., deputies responded to the area of NW Beecher Road and NW Netherland Drive on a report of gunfire exchanged between two individuals, according to deputy Abigail Christian.When deputies arrived, it was reported that 27-year-old&nbsp; Zachery R. Nelson arrived at a private residence and after a brief argument, fired multiple rounds at another individual. The victim also returned gunfire. At this time, no injuries have been reported.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610223695886.png" alt="Nelson has a previous burglary conviction. This photo from 2013, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections" />
 <figcaption>Nelson has a previous burglary conviction. This photo from 2013, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections</figcaption>
 </figure>Information was received that Nelson was possibly located at a residence in the 3700 block of SW 12th Street, in Topeka. Deputies attempted to locate Nelson at the residence but didn't find him.Nelson is described as a white male, 5-feet-11 inches tall, 165 pounds, with blonde hair and green eyes. He was last seen driving a dark blue 2011 GMC Canyon pickup truck.Authorities asked citizens to not approach Nelson, but call 911.

Kansas man wanted for role in gunfight captured

TOPEKA (AP) —State capitols across the nation stepped up security this week, deploying National Guard units, SWAT teams and extra police officers while several legislatures convened amid heightened safety concerns following last week’s violence at the U.S. Capitol.

The protections came as the FBI issued a bulletin warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee activated hundreds of National Guard troops to help state police keep order at the state Capitol. At least two people were arrested, including a man who tried to walk past authorities as lawmakers were to begin their session and shouted: “I have every right to witness this.”

At the Georgia Capitol, a state patrol SWAT team walked the perimeter wearing fatigues and carrying rifles while lawmakers gathered inside for the start of a two-year term. State troopers were stationed throughout the Iowa Capitol for opening day as more than 200 people opposing coronavirus mask mandates chanted “freedom” during a peaceful rally.

Legislatures convened in more than a half dozen states. By week’s end, three-fourths of all state legislatures will have opened their sessions. Because of concerns about the coronavirus, many state capitols had already adopted procedures to curb the potential for large crowds, including arranging for lawmakers to meet remotely. Those steps greatly reduced the number of people who are actually working in capitol buildings.

After insurrectionists backing President Donald Trump overran the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, some governors and lawmakers began ramping up security because of online threats suggesting that more mobs could target state capitols.

In Michigan, a state commission voted Monday to ban the open carrying of weapons in the Capitol building.

In Idaho, doors to the House and Senate chambers were locked Monday morning, and two state troopers were stationed at each entrance. In past years, the doors were propped open while an unarmed statehouse staff member controlled access.

During a special session last August, a group that included anti-government activist Ammon Bundy forced its way past overwhelmed troopers and filled the Idaho House gallery despite COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of people allowed in. The group called People’s Rights was founded by Bundy and opposes the restrictions. Its leaders were urging members to show up Monday at the Capitol.

Glen Thorne wore a handgun in a holster on his right hip Monday at the Capitol. Openly carrying weapons in the building is legal. Thorne said he wanted to make sure Republican Gov. Brad Little “knows that we’re here.”

“We want to end the state of emergency for Idaho. It’s ridiculous. We all want to go back to a normal state of living,” Thorne said. He did not think the group would cause trouble.

“This is Idaho. We’re all gun-carrying, respectful Republicans,” said Thorne, who lives in Buhl, Idaho, about a two-hour drive to the southeast of Boise.

Republican Idaho Rep. Chad Christensen said he brought a bulletproof vest.

“If I feel things are going to get heightened up, I may put it on,” said Christensen, who also carried a .45-caliber handgun on his belt, which is standard procedure for him.

In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and other officials approved construction of a fence around the Capitol last year after racial injustice protests. Kemp has kept a group of National Guard soldiers on active duty to protect state properties since last summer, when protesters smashed windows and set a fire at state public safety headquarters in Atlanta.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, another Republican, said he had “full confidence” that authorities would be “ready to do whatever needs to be done to to protect the members, staff, the public, the media, and all the people that have to be here.”

A memo issued late last month by the FBI office in Minneapolis and confirmed by The Associated Press warned of credible threats for this Sunday at the state capitols in Minnesota and Michigan. The memo said followers of the right-wing Boogaloo movement had done reconnaissance at the Capitol in St. Paul, including scouting police sniper locations that would need to be destroyed if a gunbattle broke out.

Inslee, a Democrat, activated 750 members of the National Guard. On the same day as the deadly riot in Washington, D.C., a group of armed people broke down a gate outside the governor’s mansion in Olympia, Washington, and made it to the porch and front yard before being convinced to leave by police.

On Monday, lawmakers had to drive through an area gated off and guarded by the National Guard to park outside the Capitol. A small group of protesters gathered in the morning, shouting that they should be let inside the building to observe lawmakers.

“It’s a sad day for our country, isn’t it, where you have to have that kind of security around the people who were elected to represent you,” Democratic Sen. Patty Kuderer said. “Unfortunately, we live in troubling times, and I do believe we’re going to get through it, but it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort.”

In Missouri, Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s inauguration proceeded Monday without incident. Concrete barriers and extra police — both typical inaugural precautions — surrounded the Capitol grounds where fewer than 2,000 people gathered. Parson told reporters later that security precautions also will be taken at potential upcoming demonstrations, though he was not specific.

Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Republican, said he was worried about protests at state capitols planned for this coming weekend and asked for extra security from the Kansas Highway Patrol.

“We’re hopeful that things, people, remain calm and the democratic process can continue,” Ryckman said.

Oregon state police will conduct building security training for those who work at the state Capitol, including journalists, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Michigan, where armed demonstrators against coronavirus restrictions entered the Capitol last year, there was little discussion as the open-weapons ban was approved. Michigan lawmakers are to return to session Wednesday.

Some of the anti-government extremists accused in a plot to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had attended the earlier lockdown protests. Prosecutors say the accused ringleader initially talked of recruiting 200 men to storm the building, take hostages and “execute tyrants.”

Authorities are aware of recent online posts promoting statehouses marches and would make “both seen and unseen” security enhancements at the Capitol for the next couple weeks, Michigan state police spokeswoman Shanon Banner said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610553562200.png" alt="National Guard soldiers at the U.S. Capitol early Wednesday- photo courtesy Rep. Peter Welch" />
 <figcaption>National Guard soldiers at the U.S. Capitol early Wednesday- photo courtesy Rep. Peter Welch</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA (AP) —State capitols across the nation stepped up security this week, deploying National Guard units, SWAT teams and extra police officers while several legislatures convened amid heightened safety concerns following last week’s violence at the U.S. Capitol.The protections came as the FBI issued a bulletin warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1609967102759.png" alt="Dozens of Trump’s supporters entered the Kansas Statehouse peacefully on Jan. 6, 2021- photo courtesy WIBW-TV" />
 <figcaption>Dozens of Trump’s supporters entered the Kansas Statehouse peacefully on Jan. 6, 2021- photo courtesy WIBW-TV</figcaption>
 </figure>Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee activated hundreds of National Guard troops to help state police keep order at the state Capitol. At least two people were arrested, including a man who tried to walk past authorities as lawmakers were to begin their session and shouted: “I have every right to witness this.”At the Georgia Capitol, a state patrol SWAT team walked the perimeter wearing fatigues and carrying rifles while lawmakers gathered inside for the start of a two-year term. State troopers were stationed throughout the Iowa Capitol for opening day as more than 200 people opposing coronavirus mask mandates chanted “freedom” during a peaceful rally.Legislatures convened in more than a half dozen states. By week’s end, three-fourths of all state legislatures will have opened their sessions. Because of concerns about the coronavirus, many state capitols had already adopted procedures to curb the potential for large crowds, including arranging for lawmakers to meet remotely. Those steps greatly reduced the number of people who are actually working in capitol buildings.After insurrectionists backing President Donald Trump overran the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, some governors and lawmakers began ramping up security because of online threats suggesting that more mobs could target state capitols.In Michigan, a state commission voted Monday to ban the open carrying of weapons in the Capitol building.In Idaho, doors to the House and Senate chambers were locked Monday morning, and two state troopers were stationed at each entrance. In past years, the doors were propped open while an unarmed statehouse staff member controlled access.During a special session last August, a group that included anti-government activist Ammon Bundy forced its way past overwhelmed troopers and filled the Idaho House gallery despite COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of people allowed in. The group called People’s Rights was founded by Bundy and opposes the restrictions. Its leaders were urging members to show up Monday at the Capitol.Glen Thorne wore a handgun in a holster on his right hip Monday at the Capitol. Openly carrying weapons in the building is legal. Thorne said he wanted to make sure Republican Gov. Brad Little “knows that we’re here.”“We want to end the state of emergency for Idaho. It’s ridiculous. We all want to go back to a normal state of living,” Thorne said. He did not think the group would cause trouble.“This is Idaho. We’re all gun-carrying, respectful Republicans,” said Thorne, who lives in Buhl, Idaho, about a two-hour drive to the southeast of Boise.Republican Idaho Rep. Chad Christensen said he brought a bulletproof vest.“If I feel things are going to get heightened up, I may put it on,” said Christensen, who also carried a .45-caliber handgun on his belt, which is standard procedure for him.In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and other officials approved construction of a fence around the Capitol last year after racial injustice protests. Kemp has kept a group of National Guard soldiers on active duty to protect state properties since last summer, when protesters smashed windows and set a fire at state public safety headquarters in Atlanta.Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, another Republican, said he had “full confidence” that authorities would be “ready to do whatever needs to be done to to protect the members, staff, the public, the media, and all the people that have to be here.”A memo issued late last month by the FBI office in Minneapolis and confirmed by The Associated Press warned of credible threats for this Sunday at the state capitols in Minnesota and Michigan. The memo said followers of the right-wing Boogaloo movement had done reconnaissance at the Capitol in St. Paul, including scouting police sniper locations that would need to be destroyed if a gunbattle broke out.Inslee, a Democrat, activated 750 members of the National Guard. On the same day as the deadly riot in Washington, D.C., a group of armed people broke down a gate outside the governor’s mansion in Olympia, Washington, and made it to the porch and front yard before being convinced to leave by police.On Monday, lawmakers had to drive through an area gated off and guarded by the National Guard to park outside the Capitol. A small group of protesters gathered in the morning, shouting that they should be let inside the building to observe lawmakers.“It’s a sad day for our country, isn’t it, where you have to have that kind of security around the people who were elected to represent you,” Democratic Sen. Patty Kuderer said. “Unfortunately, we live in troubling times, and I do believe we’re going to get through it, but it’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort.”In Missouri, Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s inauguration proceeded Monday without incident. Concrete barriers and extra police — both typical inaugural precautions — surrounded the Capitol grounds where fewer than 2,000 people gathered. Parson told reporters later that security precautions also will be taken at potential upcoming demonstrations, though he was not specific.Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Republican, said he was worried about protests at state capitols planned for this coming weekend and asked for extra security from the Kansas Highway Patrol.“We’re hopeful that things, people, remain calm and the democratic process can continue,” Ryckman said.Oregon state police will conduct building security training for those who work at the state Capitol, including journalists, on Tuesday and Wednesday.In Michigan, where armed demonstrators against coronavirus restrictions entered the Capitol last year, there was little discussion as the open-weapons ban was approved. Michigan lawmakers are to return to session Wednesday.Some of the anti-government extremists accused in a plot to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had attended the earlier lockdown protests. Prosecutors say the accused ringleader initially talked of recruiting 200 men to storm the building, take hostages and “execute tyrants.”Authorities are aware of recent online posts promoting statehouses marches and would make “both seen and unseen” security enhancements at the Capitol for the next couple weeks, Michigan state police spokeswoman Shanon Banner said.___

State capitols step up security following FBI warning

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Preliminary hearings are set for Thursday afternoon for a Hutchinson Correctional Facility employee and three women accused of smuggling contraband into Hutchinson Correctional Facility.&nbsp;

Zachary Wood, 22, Newton faces eight different counts in an effort to smuggle K2 into the facility. Wood faces three counts of conspiracy, three counts of using a communication device to distribute drugs, one count of drug distribution and one count of trafficking contraband into a correctional facility. The three women arrested in the case are Ester Davis, Denisha Starns and Stephanie Thindiu.

According to the complaint, Wood used the three women to bring the synthetic marijuana into the facility over a period of two months. Thursday's hearings are set for 1:30 p.m.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600357864536.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Preliminary hearings are set for Thursday afternoon for a Hutchinson Correctional Facility employee and three women accused of smuggling contraband into Hutchinson Correctional Facility.&nbsp;Zachary Wood, 22, Newton faces eight different counts in an effort to smuggle K2 into the facility. Wood faces three counts of conspiracy, three counts of using a communication device to distribute drugs, one count of drug distribution and one count of trafficking contraband into a correctional facility. The three women arrested in the case are Ester Davis, Denisha Starns and Stephanie Thindiu.According to the complaint, Wood used the three women to bring the synthetic marijuana into the facility over a period of two months. Thursday's hearings are set for 1:30 p.m.&nbsp;

Employee faces charges for smuggling K2 into Kan. prison

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for alleged child sex crimes.

Just after 2p.m. Tuesday, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Jeremiah B. Shipley, 43, of Topeka following an investigation into multiple sexual crimes, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

The alleged incidents involved in this case occurred between 2014 and 2019 at a residence in southwest Shawnee County.

Shipley was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14 years of age, indecent liberties with a child between 14 and 16 years of age and aggravated incest.

Authorities released no additional details.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610538960074.png" alt="Shipley photo Shawnee Co." />
 <figcaption>Shipley photo Shawnee Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for alleged child sex crimes.Just after 2p.m. Tuesday, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Jeremiah B. Shipley, 43, of Topeka following an investigation into multiple sexual crimes, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.The alleged incidents involved in this case occurred between 2014 and 2019 at a residence in southwest Shawnee County.Shipley was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on requested charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14 years of age, indecent liberties with a child between 14 and 16 years of age and aggravated incest.Authorities released no additional details.

Sheriff: Kansas man accused of aggravated incest

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Three suspect&nbsp; arrested in connection with a Wichita double murder made their first court appearance in the case on Monday.

According to the Sedgwick County District Attorney Jacquellynn Arthur, 28; Joshua Halstead, 34, and Michael Wilking, 32, all of Wichita, were charged with 1st&nbsp;degree murder, aggravated burglary, and aggravated robbery.&nbsp;

Halstead was also charged with with criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and made a 1st appearance for two counts of violating the offender registration act, according to the district attorney's office.

Just after 8p.m. Dec. 29, officers responded to a shooting in the 3900 Block of W. Fairhaven in Wichita. They found&nbsp;43-year-old Bradley Michael Reece and 22-year-old Kayla Schmidt both of Wichita. Reece died at the scene. EMS transported Schmidt to a local hospital. She died on New Year's Eve,&nbsp;according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.

<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=192023">Wilking&nbsp;</a>and Arthur are being held on&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=192023">$250,000 bonds&nbsp;</a>while Halstead’s bond is $500,000.&nbsp; Their next court appearances are scheduled for January 28, according to the district attorney.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610023320599.png" alt="Halstead has a previous convictions for theft, burglary, aggravated weapons and for drug possession and distribution, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections He was reported as an absconder in August-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Halstead has a previous convictions for theft, burglary, aggravated weapons and for drug possession and distribution, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections He was reported as an absconder in August-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY —Three suspect&nbsp; arrested in connection with a Wichita double murder made their first court appearance in the case on Monday.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610403967578.png" alt="Wilking-photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Wilking-photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>According to the Sedgwick County District Attorney Jacquellynn Arthur, 28; Joshua Halstead, 34, and Michael Wilking, 32, all of Wichita, were charged with 1st&nbsp;degree murder, aggravated burglary, and aggravated robbery.&nbsp;Halstead was also charged with with criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and made a 1st appearance for two counts of violating the offender registration act, according to the district attorney's office.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610023377783.png" alt="Arthur -photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Arthur -photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Just after 8p.m. Dec. 29, officers responded to a shooting in the 3900 Block of W. Fairhaven in Wichita. They found&nbsp;43-year-old Bradley Michael Reece and 22-year-old Kayla Schmidt both of Wichita. Reece died at the scene. EMS transported Schmidt to a local hospital. She died on New Year's Eve,&nbsp;according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=192023">Wilking&nbsp;</a>and Arthur are being held on&nbsp;<a href="https://ssc.sedgwickcounty.org/sheriffinmates/SheriffInmateDetail.aspx?nameId=192023">$250,000 bonds&nbsp;</a>while Halstead’s bond is $500,000.&nbsp; Their next court appearances are scheduled for January 28, according to the district attorney.----------

Three suspects charged in Kansas double murder

JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for alleged drug distribution after a chase.

Just after 3p.m. Monday a sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop a 2007 Nissan Infiniti for a traffic infraction near 222nd and K. Road in western Jackson County, according to sheriff Tim Morse.

The driver allegedly fled west then south. The deputy then lost sight of the vehicle. 

A deputy in an unmarked vehicle located the Nissan once again near 190th and H. Road and continued to follow it.

Deputies were able to get the Nissan stopped at 198th and E. Road at approximately 3:27 p.m. when the driver, Joseph Douglas Keehn, 26, of Havensville, was arrested on requested charges of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, distribution of marijuana, no drug tax stamp and felony interference, according to Morse.

Keehn is being held in the Jackson County Jail.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610545485000.png" alt="Keehn photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Keehn photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man for alleged drug distribution after a chase.Just after 3p.m. Monday a sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop a 2007 Nissan Infiniti for a traffic infraction near 222nd and K. Road in western Jackson County, according to sheriff Tim Morse.The driver allegedly fled west then south. The deputy then lost sight of the vehicle. A deputy in an unmarked vehicle located the Nissan once again near 190th and H. Road and continued to follow it.Deputies were able to get the Nissan stopped at 198th and E. Road at approximately 3:27 p.m. when the driver, Joseph Douglas Keehn, 26, of Havensville, was arrested on requested charges of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer, distribution of marijuana, no drug tax stamp and felony interference, according to Morse.Keehn is being held in the Jackson County Jail.

Sheriff: Kansas man accused of marijuana distribution

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate.

Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. She was the 11th prisoner to receive a lethal injection there since July when President Donald Trump, an ardent supporter of capital punishment, resumed federal executions following 17 years without one.

As a curtain was raised in the execution chamber, Montgomery looked momentarily bewildered as she glanced at journalists peering at her from behind thick glass. As the execution process began, a woman standing over Montgomery’s shoulder leaned over, gently removed Montgomery’s face mask and asked her if she had any last words. “No,” Montgomery responded in a quiet, muffled voice. She said nothing else.

She tapped her fingers nervously for several seconds, a heart-shaped tattoo on her thumb, showed no signs of distress, and quickly closed her eyes. As the lethal injection began, Montgomery kept licking her lips and gasped briefly as pentobarbital, a lethal drug, entered her body through IVs on both arms. A few minutes later, her midsection throbbed for a moment, but quickly stopped.

Montgomery lay on a gurney in the pale-green execution chamber, her glasses on and her grayish brown hair spilling over a green medical pillow. At 1:30 a.m., an official in black gloves with a stethoscope walked into the room, listened to her heart and chest, then walked out. She was pronounced dead a minute later.

“The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight,” Montgomery’s attorney, Kelley Henry said in a statement. “Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame.”

“The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman,” Henry said. “Lisa Montgomery’s execution was far from justice.”

It came after hours of legal wrangling before the Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution to move forward. Montgomery was the first of the final three federal inmates scheduled to die before next week’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who is expected to discontinue federal executions.

But a federal judge for the District of Columbia halted the scheduled executions later this week of Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs in a ruling Tuesday. Johnson, convicted of killing seven people related to his drug trafficking in Virginia, and Higgs, convicted of ordering the murders of three women in Maryland, both tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

Montgomery killed 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife. Montgomery took the child with her and attempted to pass the girl off as her own.

An appeals court granted Montgomery a stay of execution Tuesday, shortly after another appeals court lifted an Indiana judge’s ruling that found she was likely mentally ill and couldn’t comprehend she would be put to death. But both appeals were lifted, allowing the execution of the only female on federal death row to go forward.

As the only woman on federal death row, Montgomery had been held in a federal prison in Texas and was brought to Terre Haute on Monday night.

Montgomery’s legal team says she suffered “sexual torture,” including gang rapes, as a child, permanently scarring her emotionally and exacerbating mental-health issues that ran in her family.

At trial, prosecutors accused Montgomery of faking mental illness, noting that her killing of Stinnett was premeditated and included meticulous planning, including online research on how to perform a C-section.

Henry balked at that idea, citing extensive testing and brain scans that supported the diagnosis of mental illness. She said the issue at the core of the legal arguments are not whether she knew the killing was wrong in 2004 but whether she fully grasps why she is slated to be executed now.

U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon, who had halted Montgomery’s execution before the stay was overturned on appeal, cited defense experts who alleged Montgomery suffered from depression, borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Montgomery, the judge wrote, also suffered around the time of the killing from an extremely rare condition called pseudocyesis in which a woman’s false belief she is pregnant triggers hormonal and physical changes as if she were actually pregnant.

Montgomery also experiences delusions and hallucinations, believing God spoke with her through connect-the-dot puzzles, the judge said, citing defense experts. The government has acknowledged Montgomery’s mental issues but disputes that she can’t comprehend that she is scheduled for execution for killing another person because of them.

Details of the crime at times left jurors in tears during her trial.

Prosecutors told the jury Montgomery drove about 170 miles (274 kilometers) from her Melvern, Kansas, farmhouse to the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore under the guise of adopting a rat terrier puppy from Stinnett. She strangled Stinnett performing a crude cesarean and fleeing with the baby.

Prosecutors said Stinnett regained consciousness and tried to defend herself as Montgomery cut the baby girl from her womb. Later that day, Montgomery called her husband to pick her up in the parking lot of a Long John Silver’s in Topeka, Kansas, telling him she had delivered the baby earlier in the day at a nearby birthing center.

Montgomery was arrested the next day after showing off the premature infant, Victoria Jo, who is now 16 years old and hasn’t spoken publicly about the tragedy.

Prosecutors said the motive was that Montgomery’s ex-husband knew she had undergone a tubal ligation that made her sterile and planned to reveal she was lying about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of two of their four children. Needing a baby before a fast-approaching court date, Montgomery turned her focus on Stinnett, whom she had met at dog shows.

Anti-death penalty groups said Trump was pushing for executions prior to the November election in a cynical bid to burnish a reputation as a law-and-order leader.

The last woman executed by the federal government was Bonnie Brown Heady on Dec. 18, 1953, for the kidnapping and murder of a 6-year-old boy in Missouri.

The last woman executed by a state was Kelly Gissendaner, 47, on Sept. 30, 2015, in Georgia. She was convicted of murder in the 1997 slaying of her husband after she conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602895377835.png" alt="Lisa Montgomery, 52, was the 11th prisoner to receive a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana since July." />
 <figcaption>Lisa Montgomery, 52, was the 11th prisoner to receive a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana since July.</figcaption>
 </figure>TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate.Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. She was the 11th prisoner to receive a lethal injection there since July when President Donald Trump, an ardent supporter of capital punishment, resumed federal executions following 17 years without one.As a curtain was raised in the execution chamber, Montgomery looked momentarily bewildered as she glanced at journalists peering at her from behind thick glass. As the execution process began, a woman standing over Montgomery’s shoulder leaned over, gently removed Montgomery’s face mask and asked her if she had any last words. “No,” Montgomery responded in a quiet, muffled voice. She said nothing else.She tapped her fingers nervously for several seconds, a heart-shaped tattoo on her thumb, showed no signs of distress, and quickly closed her eyes. As the lethal injection began, Montgomery kept licking her lips and gasped briefly as pentobarbital, a lethal drug, entered her body through IVs on both arms. A few minutes later, her midsection throbbed for a moment, but quickly stopped.Montgomery lay on a gurney in the pale-green execution chamber, her glasses on and her grayish brown hair spilling over a green medical pillow. At 1:30 a.m., an official in black gloves with a stethoscope walked into the room, listened to her heart and chest, then walked out. She was pronounced dead a minute later.“The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight,” Montgomery’s attorney, Kelley Henry said in a statement. “Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame.”“The government stopped at nothing in its zeal to kill this damaged and delusional woman,” Henry said. “Lisa Montgomery’s execution was far from justice.”It came after hours of legal wrangling before the Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution to move forward. Montgomery was the first of the final three federal inmates scheduled to die before next week’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who is expected to discontinue federal executions.But a federal judge for the District of Columbia halted the scheduled executions later this week of Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs in a ruling Tuesday. Johnson, convicted of killing seven people related to his drug trafficking in Virginia, and Higgs, convicted of ordering the murders of three women in Maryland, both tested positive for COVID-19 last month.Montgomery killed 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife. Montgomery took the child with her and attempted to pass the girl off as her own.An appeals court granted Montgomery a stay of execution Tuesday, shortly after another appeals court lifted an Indiana judge’s ruling that found she was likely mentally ill and couldn’t comprehend she would be put to death. But both appeals were lifted, allowing the execution of the only female on federal death row to go forward.As the only woman on federal death row, Montgomery had been held in a federal prison in Texas and was brought to Terre Haute on Monday night.Montgomery’s legal team says she suffered “sexual torture,” including gang rapes, as a child, permanently scarring her emotionally and exacerbating mental-health issues that ran in her family.At trial, prosecutors accused Montgomery of faking mental illness, noting that her killing of Stinnett was premeditated and included meticulous planning, including online research on how to perform a C-section.Henry balked at that idea, citing extensive testing and brain scans that supported the diagnosis of mental illness. She said the issue at the core of the legal arguments are not whether she knew the killing was wrong in 2004 but whether she fully grasps why she is slated to be executed now.U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon, who had halted Montgomery’s execution before the stay was overturned on appeal, cited defense experts who alleged Montgomery suffered from depression, borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Montgomery, the judge wrote, also suffered around the time of the killing from an extremely rare condition called pseudocyesis in which a woman’s false belief she is pregnant triggers hormonal and physical changes as if she were actually pregnant.Montgomery also experiences delusions and hallucinations, believing God spoke with her through connect-the-dot puzzles, the judge said, citing defense experts. The government has acknowledged Montgomery’s mental issues but disputes that she can’t comprehend that she is scheduled for execution for killing another person because of them.Details of the crime at times left jurors in tears during her trial.Prosecutors told the jury Montgomery drove about 170 miles (274 kilometers) from her Melvern, Kansas, farmhouse to the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore under the guise of adopting a rat terrier puppy from Stinnett. She strangled Stinnett performing a crude cesarean and fleeing with the baby.Prosecutors said Stinnett regained consciousness and tried to defend herself as Montgomery cut the baby girl from her womb. Later that day, Montgomery called her husband to pick her up in the parking lot of a Long John Silver’s in Topeka, Kansas, telling him she had delivered the baby earlier in the day at a nearby birthing center.Montgomery was arrested the next day after showing off the premature infant, Victoria Jo, who is now 16 years old and hasn’t spoken publicly about the tragedy.Prosecutors said the motive was that Montgomery’s ex-husband knew she had undergone a tubal ligation that made her sterile and planned to reveal she was lying about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of two of their four children. Needing a baby before a fast-approaching court date, Montgomery turned her focus on Stinnett, whom she had met at dog shows.Anti-death penalty groups said Trump was pushing for executions prior to the November election in a cynical bid to burnish a reputation as a law-and-order leader.The last woman executed by the federal government was Bonnie Brown Heady on Dec. 18, 1953, for the kidnapping and murder of a 6-year-old boy in Missouri.The last woman executed by a state was Kelly Gissendaner, 47, on Sept. 30, 2015, in Georgia. She was convicted of murder in the 1997 slaying of her husband after she conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.___

Officials: No last words from Kan. woman before execution

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, stoking fears of more bloodshed after last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.

An internal FBI bulletin warned, as of Sunday, that the nationwide protests may start later this week and extend through Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, according to two law enforcement officials who read details of the memo to The Associated Press. Investigators believe some of the people are members of extremist groups, the officials said. The bulletin was first reported by ABC.

“Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the U.S. Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” the bulletin said, according to one official. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The FBI issued at least one other bulletin — they go out to law enforcement nationwide on the topic — before the riots last week. On Dec. 29, it warned of the potential for armed demonstrators targeting legislatures, the second official said.

“While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, the FBI is supporting our state, local, and federal law enforcement partners with maintaining public safety in the communities we serve,” the bureau said in a statement. “Our efforts are focused on identifying, investigating, and disrupting individuals that are inciting violence and engaging in criminal activity.”

The FBI said it wasn’t focused on peaceful protests but “on those threatening their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and destruction of property.”

Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters Monday that the Guard is also looking at any issues across the country,

“We’re keeping a look across the entire country to make sure that we’re monitoring, and that our Guards in every state are in close coordination with their local law enforcement agencies to provide any support requested,” he said.

The riots followed weeks of online calls for violence in the nation’s capital in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency. There have been several arrests, and at least two Capitol police officers, one who took a selfie with rioters, and another who put on a Make America Great Again hat, were suspended. At least a dozen more are under investigation, according to lawmakers.

A tweet in which Trump promised that last Wednesday’s event in Washington, D.C., “will be wild” fueled a “month-long frenzy of incitements, strategizing, and embrace of violence against lawmakers,” according to a research group that tracks online extremism activity, In a report issued Saturday, the SITE Intelligence Group also warned that the Capitol attack has emboldened Trump-supporting extremists.

“No matter how all this plays out, its only the beginning,” posted a user on TheDonald message board, according to the report.

Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said authorities in state capitals and other major cities besides Washington should prepare for the possibility of violent protests next week.

“A lot of people were energized by what happened last week,” he said. “State capitals are a natural place where people might want to show up, especially assuming that they think there might be a huge presence of police and military in D.C. because of what happened last week.”

Pitcavage tracks militia, white supremacists and other far-right extremists, but he said the Capitol siege demonstrated the emergence of a new movement of ”Trumpist extremists, so caught up in the cult of personality around Trump that they may be willing to break the law or engage in violence purely in support of Trump and whatever he wants.”

The talk of armed marches next week isn’t limited to “radicalized” Trump supporters. State capital events on Jan. 17 appear to be promoted by supporters of the anti-government, pro-gun&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3783a0cdc0e6cc04b43fd28b6069e960">“boogaloo” movement.</a>&nbsp;Boogaloo followers advocate for a second civil war or the collapse of society, and they don’t adhere to a coherent political philosophy.

Posts on social media sites also have promoted a “Million Militia March” on the day of Biden’s inauguration. Pitcavage said the event, apparently organized by a promoter of the pro-Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-town-hall-qanon-explained-b4614edad1aae27a0cbcb9dfe0c0c44c">“QAnon” conspiracy theory,&nbsp;</a>appears unlikely to draw a massive crowd.

Javed Ali, a former FBI senior intelligence officer who teaches courses in counterterrorism at the University of Michigan, said it can be challenging for law enforcement to identify the line between people exercising their constitutionally protected rights to bear arms and free speech and those who pose “a real operational threat.”

“The FBI just can’t passively sit in websites and forums and social media platforms, waiting to see who’s going to present a direct threat versus just someone who is being highly radicalized,” he said. “There has to be an investigative predicate for the FBI to then start even the lowest form of an investigation.”

David Deitch, an attorney who was a prosecutor in the Justice Department’s counterterrorism section from 2003 to 2007, said law enforcement must recognize a “tenuous balance” between protected free speech and speech that intends to incites violence.

“It’s a very fact-based, case-by-case determination,” he said. “There’s no one factor that’s going to determine all of it. It’s certainly going to be a judgment call on the part of law enforcement about whether and when to intervene.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1609972156416.png" alt="Security outside the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021 image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Security outside the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021 image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, stoking fears of more bloodshed after last week’s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.An internal FBI bulletin warned, as of Sunday, that the nationwide protests may start later this week and extend through Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, according to two law enforcement officials who read details of the memo to The Associated Press. Investigators believe some of the people are members of extremist groups, the officials said. The bulletin was first reported by ABC.“Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the U.S. Capitol from 17 January through 20 January,” the bulletin said, according to one official. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.The FBI issued at least one other bulletin — they go out to law enforcement nationwide on the topic — before the riots last week. On Dec. 29, it warned of the potential for armed demonstrators targeting legislatures, the second official said.“While our standard practice is to not comment on specific intelligence products, the FBI is supporting our state, local, and federal law enforcement partners with maintaining public safety in the communities we serve,” the bureau said in a statement. “Our efforts are focused on identifying, investigating, and disrupting individuals that are inciting violence and engaging in criminal activity.”The FBI said it wasn’t focused on peaceful protests but “on those threatening their safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and destruction of property.”Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters Monday that the Guard is also looking at any issues across the country,“We’re keeping a look across the entire country to make sure that we’re monitoring, and that our Guards in every state are in close coordination with their local law enforcement agencies to provide any support requested,” he said.The riots followed weeks of online calls for violence in the nation’s capital in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency. There have been several arrests, and at least two Capitol police officers, one who took a selfie with rioters, and another who put on a Make America Great Again hat, were suspended. At least a dozen more are under investigation, according to lawmakers.A tweet in which Trump promised that last Wednesday’s event in Washington, D.C., “will be wild” fueled a “month-long frenzy of incitements, strategizing, and embrace of violence against lawmakers,” according to a research group that tracks online extremism activity, In a report issued Saturday, the SITE Intelligence Group also warned that the Capitol attack has emboldened Trump-supporting extremists.“No matter how all this plays out, its only the beginning,” posted a user on TheDonald message board, according to the report.Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, said authorities in state capitals and other major cities besides Washington should prepare for the possibility of violent protests next week.“A lot of people were energized by what happened last week,” he said. “State capitals are a natural place where people might want to show up, especially assuming that they think there might be a huge presence of police and military in D.C. because of what happened last week.”Pitcavage tracks militia, white supremacists and other far-right extremists, but he said the Capitol siege demonstrated the emergence of a new movement of ”Trumpist extremists, so caught up in the cult of personality around Trump that they may be willing to break the law or engage in violence purely in support of Trump and whatever he wants.”The talk of armed marches next week isn’t limited to “radicalized” Trump supporters. State capital events on Jan. 17 appear to be promoted by supporters of the anti-government, pro-gun&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/3783a0cdc0e6cc04b43fd28b6069e960">“boogaloo” movement.</a>&nbsp;Boogaloo followers advocate for a second civil war or the collapse of society, and they don’t adhere to a coherent political philosophy.Posts on social media sites also have promoted a “Million Militia March” on the day of Biden’s inauguration. Pitcavage said the event, apparently organized by a promoter of the pro-Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-town-hall-qanon-explained-b4614edad1aae27a0cbcb9dfe0c0c44c">“QAnon” conspiracy theory,&nbsp;</a>appears unlikely to draw a massive crowd.Javed Ali, a former FBI senior intelligence officer who teaches courses in counterterrorism at the University of Michigan, said it can be challenging for law enforcement to identify the line between people exercising their constitutionally protected rights to bear arms and free speech and those who pose “a real operational threat.”“The FBI just can’t passively sit in websites and forums and social media platforms, waiting to see who’s going to present a direct threat versus just someone who is being highly radicalized,” he said. “There has to be an investigative predicate for the FBI to then start even the lowest form of an investigation.”David Deitch, an attorney who was a prosecutor in the Justice Department’s counterterrorism section from 2003 to 2007, said law enforcement must recognize a “tenuous balance” between protected free speech and speech that intends to incites violence.“It’s a very fact-based, case-by-case determination,” he said. “There’s no one factor that’s going to determine all of it. It’s certainly going to be a judgment call on the part of law enforcement about whether and when to intervene.”___

FBI: Nationwide armed protests possible next week

SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects in connection with the burglary of police equipment from an off-duty officer's vehicle in rural Saline County and several other burglaries in the county.

Between 8:30 p.m. Dec. 29 and 3:20 a.m. Dec. 30, someone entered the unlocked personal vehicle of the officer in the unincorporated Saline County Community of Kipp, according to Sheriff Roger Soldan.

The suspect took&nbsp; the officers's badge, ballistic vest, a taser, a body camera, a Kenwood portable radio, a Glock 9mm hand gun, flashlight, 52 rounds of 9mm ammunition, OC spray (pepper spray), an ASP expandable baton,&nbsp; emergency tourniquet belt holder,&nbsp;&nbsp;black duty belt, a black and blue knife, a handcuff pouch and a magazine pouch The total loss was estimated at $5,036, according to Soldan.

On Dec. 31, deputies executed a search warrant in the case at 110 Raleigh Street in Salina, according to Soldan.&nbsp;

As the warrant was being executed, Byron Neef, 23, of Salina, attempted to flee and a magazine believed to be from the Glock stolen in Kipp fell out of his pocket, according to the sheriff. When Neef was stopped, the Glock and part of a magazine for the Glock were located in his vehicle.

During the search of the residence, deputies found the officer's badge, radio and mic, part of the vest carrier, the knife, methamphetamine, and marijuana, according to Soldan.

&nbsp;Deputies also found a victim's wallet from a burglary in the 7200 block of East Farrelly Road and checks from two other burglaries.

A suspect in the case, 25-year-old Jeremy Cullen of Salina, who law enforcement hoped to find during the search was not at the residence, according to Soldan.

On Jan. 3, deputies executed another search warrant at 1844 North Fifth Street in Salina. Investigators found part of the officer's vest carrier, a third magazine for the Glock, the taser holster, and a double magazine ammunition holder.

Deputies also found a rifle reported stolen in a burglary in the 6900 block of Thorstenberg Road.

During the search, deputies arrested 52-year-old Richard Blevins who lives at the North Fifth Street address.

On January. 6, police located Cullen at a Wichita motel and arrested him on multiple active warrants out of Saline County, according to Soldan. Cullen was also booked on requested charges&nbsp;burglary, theft, possession of stolen property,&nbsp;&nbsp;theft of a firearm,&nbsp;distribution of a firearm to a felon, Possession of methamphetamine, Possession of marijuana, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Attempted unlawful use of a financial card

Salina police arrested Neef on Dec. 31, according to Soldan. He was booked on requested charges that include Possession of a stolen firearm, Possession of stolen property, Felon in possession of a firearm, Possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, Possession of drug paraphernalia, No tax stamp, Unlawful drug proceeds, Interference with a law enforcement officer, Driving while suspended

&nbsp;Blevins was booked on requested of charges of Felon in possession of a firearm, Possession of a stolen firearm, Possession of stolen property, Possession of marijuana and Possession of drug paraphernalia.

SALINE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating the burglary of a vehicle that belonged to a Salina police officer.

Between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, someone entered the unlocked personal vehicle of a Salina police officer in the unincorporated Saline County Community Kipp, according to Sheriff Roger Solday.

The suspect took a the officers's badge, ballistic vest, a taser, a body camera, a Kenwood portable radio, a Glock 9mm hand gun, flashlight, 52 rounds of 9mm ammunition, OC spray (pepper spray), an ASP expandable baton,&nbsp; emergency tourniquet belt holder,&nbsp;&nbsp;black duty belt, a black and blue knife, a handcuff pouch and a magazine pouch

The total loss was estimated at $5,036, according to Soldan.

"We obviously take the theft of police equipment, to include a department issued handgun, extremely seriously. An Internal Affairs investigation will take place," Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson told Salina Post Wednesday.

Saline County deputies were also busy Wednesday taking two other vehicle burglary reports in Kipp and a third report near there, according to Soldan.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1609515247267.jpeg" alt="Byron Neef photo Saline Co." />
 <figcaption>Byron Neef photo Saline Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspects in connection with the burglary of police equipment from an off-duty officer's vehicle in rural Saline County and several other burglaries in the county.Between 8:30 p.m. Dec. 29 and 3:20 a.m. Dec. 30, someone entered the unlocked personal vehicle of the officer in the unincorporated Saline County Community of Kipp, according to Sheriff Roger Soldan.The suspect took&nbsp; the officers's badge, ballistic vest, a taser, a body camera, a Kenwood portable radio, a Glock 9mm hand gun, flashlight, 52 rounds of 9mm ammunition, OC spray (pepper spray), an ASP expandable baton,&nbsp; emergency tourniquet belt holder,&nbsp;&nbsp;black duty belt, a black and blue knife, a handcuff pouch and a magazine pouch The total loss was estimated at $5,036, according to Soldan.On Dec. 31, deputies executed a search warrant in the case at 110 Raleigh Street in Salina, according to Soldan.&nbsp;As the warrant was being executed, Byron Neef, 23, of Salina, attempted to flee and a magazine believed to be from the Glock stolen in Kipp fell out of his pocket, according to the sheriff. When Neef was stopped, the Glock and part of a magazine for the Glock were located in his vehicle.During the search of the residence, deputies found the officer's badge, radio and mic, part of the vest carrier, the knife, methamphetamine, and marijuana, according to Soldan.&nbsp;Deputies also found a victim's wallet from a burglary in the 7200 block of East Farrelly Road and checks from two other burglaries.A suspect in the case, 25-year-old Jeremy Cullen of Salina, who law enforcement hoped to find during the search was not at the residence, according to Soldan.On Jan. 3, deputies executed another search warrant at 1844 North Fifth Street in Salina. Investigators found part of the officer's vest carrier, a third magazine for the Glock, the taser holster, and a double magazine ammunition holder.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1609944154195.jpeg" alt="Blevins photo Saline Co." />
 <figcaption>Blevins photo Saline Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>Deputies also found a rifle reported stolen in a burglary in the 6900 block of Thorstenberg Road.During the search, deputies arrested 52-year-old Richard Blevins who lives at the North Fifth Street address.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610473097101.png" alt="Cullen photo Sedgwick Co." />
 <figcaption>Cullen photo Sedgwick Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>On January. 6, police located Cullen at a Wichita motel and arrested him on multiple active warrants out of Saline County, according to Soldan. Cullen was also booked on requested charges&nbsp;burglary, theft, possession of stolen property,&nbsp;&nbsp;theft of a firearm,&nbsp;distribution of a firearm to a felon, Possession of methamphetamine, Possession of marijuana, Possession of drug paraphernalia, Attempted unlawful use of a financial cardSalina police arrested Neef on Dec. 31, according to Soldan. He was booked on requested charges that include Possession of a stolen firearm, Possession of stolen property, Felon in possession of a firearm, Possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, Possession of drug paraphernalia, No tax stamp, Unlawful drug proceeds, Interference with a law enforcement officer, Driving while suspended&nbsp;Blevins was booked on requested of charges of Felon in possession of a firearm, Possession of a stolen firearm, Possession of stolen property, Possession of marijuana and Possession of drug paraphernalia.--------SALINE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating the burglary of a vehicle that belonged to a Salina police officer.Between 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, someone entered the unlocked personal vehicle of a Salina police officer in the unincorporated Saline County Community Kipp, according to Sheriff Roger Solday.The suspect took a the officers's badge, ballistic vest, a taser, a body camera, a Kenwood portable radio, a Glock 9mm hand gun, flashlight, 52 rounds of 9mm ammunition, OC spray (pepper spray), an ASP expandable baton,&nbsp; emergency tourniquet belt holder,&nbsp;&nbsp;black duty belt, a black and blue knife, a handcuff pouch and a magazine pouchThe total loss was estimated at $5,036, according to Soldan."We obviously take the theft of police equipment, to include a department issued handgun, extremely seriously. An Internal Affairs investigation will take place," Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson told Salina Post Wednesday.Saline County deputies were also busy Wednesday taking two other vehicle burglary reports in Kipp and a third report near there, according to Soldan.

3 jailed for burglary of police equipment from Kan. officer's car

KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City-area man pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to illegally possessing a firearm following a police chase in a stolen pickup truck.

John D. Seger, 28, Independence, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the United State's Attorney.

By pleading guilty,&nbsp; Seger admitted that he was in possession of a Phoenix handgun while driving a stolen pickup truck on Jan. 18, 2017. 

Police officers saw Seger run a red light. Officers attempted a traffic stop, but Seger fled from police and stopped only after the vehicle wrecked and became inoperable. 

Seger fled on foot before being apprehended by police. Officers then found the handgun inside the pickup truck.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Seger has a prior felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter, two prior felony convictions for burglary, two prior convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, and a prior felony conviction for resisting arrest.

Under federal statutes, Seger is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610213490431.png" alt="Seger-photo MODC" />
 <figcaption>Seger-photo MODC</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY – A Kansas City-area man pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to illegally possessing a firearm following a police chase in a stolen pickup truck.John D. Seger, 28, Independence, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the United State's Attorney.By pleading guilty,&nbsp; Seger admitted that he was in possession of a Phoenix handgun while driving a stolen pickup truck on Jan. 18, 2017. Police officers saw Seger run a red light. Officers attempted a traffic stop, but Seger fled from police and stopped only after the vehicle wrecked and became inoperable. Seger fled on foot before being apprehended by police. Officers then found the handgun inside the pickup truck.Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Seger has a prior felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter, two prior felony convictions for burglary, two prior convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, and a prior felony conviction for resisting arrest.Under federal statutes, Seger is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

KC-area man admits to illegal firearm during chase in stolen truck

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators opened their annual session Monday with new leaders in the Senate, new lawmakers in a quarter of the seats and a top Republican acknowledging that he’s asked for extra security.

The 90-day session began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in one confirmed or probable case for one in every 12 of the state’s 2.9 million residents and killed 3,255 over the past 10 months. But the GOP-controlled Legislature also started its work for the year under the shadow of last week’s mob violence in Washington in which extremist supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying his election loss.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/575a4070cbef5441d61fb7e4a497f9b7">The FBI warned</a>&nbsp;Monday of potential armed protests in Washington and many states by Trump loyalists ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Jan. 20. Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, said he has asked for extra security from the Kansas Highway Patrol, which oversees the Kansas Capitol Police.

While the pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington in a failed insurrection that left five people dead,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-kansas-elections-coronavirus-pandemic-1d62ac6c2ee8ea226b8fbbc1cdd20939">about 200 Trump supporters rallied&nbsp;</a>at the Kansas Statehouse. But their event Wednesday in Topeka was peaceful, and when they entered the Statehouse afterward, they came through its security checkpoint. No damage or arrests were reported.

Several legislators said they have confidence in the Capitol Police’s ability to prevent a serious incident at the Statehouse. The Highway Patrol is under the control of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

“Our office is aware of the heightened risks being reported, and we are taking all threats seriously,” said Kelly spokesperson Lauren Fitzgerald.

The Legislature’s business Monday included ratifying Republican lawmakers’ selection of the House speaker and speaker pro tem and the Senate president and vice president. Because those positions are mentioned in the Kansas Constitution, the full chamber must vote on them, but by tradition, approval of the majority party’s choice is a formality.

The new Senate president and majority leader are Wichita-area Republicans Ty Masterson and Gene Suellentrop. They replace GOP leaders who did not seek re-election last year.

The new minority leader is Lenexa Democrat Dinah Sykes. She replaces the longest-serving legislator in state history, former Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat who unexpectedly lost his seat last year.

Twenty-eight of the House’s 125 members are new. Fourteen of 40 senators are new, though seven previously served in the House.

But the House’s top leaders all returned from last year. Ryckman became the first speaker in history elected to a third consecutive two-year term.

This year’s 90-day session will be marked by COVID-19 precautions. About half of the House’s 165 members will be seated in its galleries to allow for social distancing, while senators will take over space on the floor of their chamber normally reserved for visitors and reporters.

The Legislature spent $3 million to upgrade its technology for live video and audio streaming of its meetings and so that people could participate remotely.

“We have an added duty this session, a duty to keep each other safe,” Ryckman told his colleagues.

In the Senate, most GOP members were seen without masks throughout the chamber’s session. Democratic senators wore masks throughout.

Masterson didn’t wear a mask during the session, nor did his family seated at the front of the chamber. As a family, he said later, they didn’t need to be socially distanced from each other under federal health guidelines, and he remained 6 feet from others.

The new Senate president had COVID-19 in the fall, one of at least seven lawmakers who were infected, also including Ryckman.

“(To) those who are no longer with us, to those in our very chamber today who have recently lost someone close to them, please know we are thinking about you and praying for you,” Masterson said in a speech to fellow senators.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1610403793215.png" alt="Kansas lawmakers at work on Monday afternoon." />
 <figcaption>Kansas lawmakers at work on Monday afternoon.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators opened their annual session Monday with new leaders in the Senate, new lawmakers in a quarter of the seats and a top Republican acknowledging that he’s asked for extra security.The 90-day session began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in one confirmed or probable case for one in every 12 of the state’s 2.9 million residents and killed 3,255 over the past 10 months. But the GOP-controlled Legislature also started its work for the year under the shadow of last week’s mob violence in Washington in which extremist supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying his election loss.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/575a4070cbef5441d61fb7e4a497f9b7">The FBI warned</a>&nbsp;Monday of potential armed protests in Washington and many states by Trump loyalists ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Jan. 20. Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., an Olathe Republican, said he has asked for extra security from the Kansas Highway Patrol, which oversees the Kansas Capitol Police.“We’re hopeful that things, people, remain calm and the democratic process can continue,” Ryckman said.While the pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington in a failed insurrection that left five people dead,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-kansas-elections-coronavirus-pandemic-1d62ac6c2ee8ea226b8fbbc1cdd20939">about 200 Trump supporters rallied&nbsp;</a>at the Kansas Statehouse. But their event Wednesday in Topeka was peaceful, and when they entered the Statehouse afterward, they came through its security checkpoint. No damage or arrests were reported.Several legislators said they have confidence in the Capitol Police’s ability to prevent a serious incident at the Statehouse. The Highway Patrol is under the control of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.“Our office is aware of the heightened risks being reported, and we are taking all threats seriously,” said Kelly spokesperson Lauren Fitzgerald.The Legislature’s business Monday included ratifying Republican lawmakers’ selection of the House speaker and speaker pro tem and the Senate president and vice president. Because those positions are mentioned in the Kansas Constitution, the full chamber must vote on them, but by tradition, approval of the majority party’s choice is a formality.The new Senate president and majority leader are Wichita-area Republicans Ty Masterson and Gene Suellentrop. They replace GOP leaders who did not seek re-election last year.The new minority leader is Lenexa Democrat Dinah Sykes. She replaces the longest-serving legislator in state history, former Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat who unexpectedly lost his seat last year.Twenty-eight of the House’s 125 members are new. Fourteen of 40 senators are new, though seven previously served in the House.But the House’s top leaders all returned from last year. Ryckman became the first speaker in history elected to a third consecutive two-year term.This year’s 90-day session will be marked by COVID-19 precautions. About half of the House’s 165 members will be seated in its galleries to allow for social distancing, while senators will take over space on the floor of their chamber normally reserved for visitors and reporters.The Legislature spent $3 million to upgrade its technology for live video and audio streaming of its meetings and so that people could participate remotely.“We have an added duty this session, a duty to keep each other safe,” Ryckman told his colleagues.In the Senate, most GOP members were seen without masks throughout the chamber’s session. Democratic senators wore masks throughout.Masterson didn’t wear a mask during the session, nor did his family seated at the front of the chamber. As a family, he said later, they didn’t need to be socially distanced from each other under federal health guidelines, and he remained 6 feet from others.The new Senate president had COVID-19 in the fall, one of at least seven lawmakers who were infected, also including Ryckman.“(To) those who are no longer with us, to those in our very chamber today who have recently lost someone close to them, please know we are thinking about you and praying for you,” Masterson said in a speech to fellow senators.____

Kan. lawmakers open session clouded by COVID, DC violence

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. government’s plans to carry out its first execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades are on hold, and two other executions set for later this week have been halted because the inmates tested positive for COVID-19. 

The executions were to be the last before President-elect Joe Biden, an opponent of the federal death penalty, is sworn-in next week. Lisa Montgomery faced execution Tuesday for killing a pregnant woman and cutting the baby from her womb in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in 2004. 

But an appeals court granted a stay of execution Tuesday. That came shortly after another appeals court lifted an Indiana judge’s ruling that found she likely couldn’t comprehend she'd be put to death.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A judge has temporarily stopped the U.S. government’s plans Tuesday to carry out the first federal execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades, finding that the Kansas woman who killed an expectant mother, cut the baby from her womb and tried to pass off the newborn as her own was likely mentally ill and couldn’t comprehend she would be put to death.

When other executions by the Trump administration were similarly stayed in days or even hours before the scheduled execution times last year, the Department of Justice succeeded in getting a higher court to reverse them. Government lawyers also quickly appealed the stay issued Monday for Lisa Montgomery.

Montgomery was convicted of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michael-brown-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-terre-haute-ef212a64d7f6d8da9ff9f0a2ac3e3390">killing 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett&nbsp;</a>in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife. Montgomery took the child with her and attempted to pass the girl off as her own.

A federal judge in southwestern Indiana handed down the order Monday less than 24 hours before the 52-year-old Montgomery, the only female on federal death row, was set to be executed at a federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1602895377835.png" alt="Montgomery is being held at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, according to online jail records." />
 <figcaption>Montgomery is being held at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, according to online jail records.</figcaption>
 </figure>TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. government’s plans to carry out its first execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades are on hold, and two other executions set for later this week have been halted because the inmates tested positive for COVID-19. The executions were to be the last before President-elect Joe Biden, an opponent of the federal death penalty, is sworn-in next week. Lisa Montgomery faced execution Tuesday for killing a pregnant woman and cutting the baby from her womb in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in 2004. But an appeals court granted a stay of execution Tuesday. That came shortly after another appeals court lifted an Indiana judge’s ruling that found she likely couldn’t comprehend she'd be put to death.------TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A judge has temporarily stopped the U.S. government’s plans Tuesday to carry out the first federal execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades, finding that the Kansas woman who killed an expectant mother, cut the baby from her womb and tried to pass off the newborn as her own was likely mentally ill and couldn’t comprehend she would be put to death.When other executions by the Trump administration were similarly stayed in days or even hours before the scheduled execution times last year, the Department of Justice succeeded in getting a higher court to reverse them. Government lawyers also quickly appealed the stay issued Monday for Lisa Montgomery.Montgomery was convicted of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-michael-brown-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-terre-haute-ef212a64d7f6d8da9ff9f0a2ac3e3390">killing 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett&nbsp;</a>in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in 2004. She used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, and then cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife. Montgomery took the child with her and attempted to pass the girl off as her own.A federal judge in southwestern Indiana handed down the order Monday less than 24 hours before the 52-year-old Montgomery, the only female on federal death row, was set to be executed at a federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.Any delay of Montgomery’s execution beyond Joe Biden’s inauguration next Tuesday would likely mean she will not be executed since a Biden administration is expected to oppose carrying out of federal death sentences.One of Montgomery’s lawyers, Kelley Henry, told The Associated Press Tuesday morning that her client arrived at the Terre Haute facility late Monday night from a Texas prison and that, because there are no facilities for female inmates, she was being kept in a cell in the execution-chamber building itself.“I don’t believe she has any rational comprehension of what’s going on at all,” Henry said.Montgomery has done needle-point in prison, making gloves, hats and other knitted items as gifts for her lawyers and others, Henry said. She hasn’t been able to continue that hobby or read since her glasses were taken away from her out of concern she could commit suicide.“All of her coping mechanisms were taken away from her when they locked her down” in October when she was informed she had an execution date, Henry said.Montgomery’s legal team says she suffered “sexual torture,” including gang rapes, as a child, permanently scarring her emotionally and exacerbating mental-health issues that ran in her family.At trial, prosecutors accused Montgomery of faking mental illness, noting that her killing of Stinnett was premeditated and included meticulous planning, including online research on how to perform a C-section.Henry balked at that idea, citing extensive testing and brain scans that supported the diagnosis of mental illness.“You can’t fake brain scans that show the brain damage,” she said.Henry said the issue at the core of the legal arguments are not whether she knew the killing was wrong in 2004 but whether she fully grasps why she is slated to be executed now.In his ruling on a stay, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon in Terre Haute cited defense experts who alleged Montgomery suffered from depression, borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.Montgomery, the judge wrote, also suffered around the time of the killing from an extremely rare condition called pseudocyesis in which a woman’s false belief she is pregnant triggers hormonal and physical changes as if she was actually pregnant.Montgomery also experiences delusions and hallucinations, believing God spoke with her through connect-the-dot puzzles, the judge said, citing defense experts.“The record before the Court contains ample evidence that Ms. Montgomery’s current mental state is so divorced from reality that she cannot rationally understand the government’s rationale for her execution,” the judge’ said.The government has acknowledged Montgomery’s mental issues but disputes that she can’t comprehend that she is scheduled for execution for killing another person because of them.Details of the crime at times left jurors in tears during her trial.Prosecutors told the jury Montgomery drove about 170 miles (274 kilometers) from her Melvern, Kansas, farmhouse to the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore under the guise of adopting a rat terrier puppy from Stinnett. She strangled Stinnett performing a crude cesarean and fleeing with the baby.Prosecutors said Stinnett regained consciousness and tried to defend herself as Montgomery used a kitchen knife to cut the baby girl from her womb. Later that day, Montgomery called her husband to pick her up in the parking lot of a Long John Silver’s in Topeka, Kansas, telling him she had delivered the baby earlier in the day at a nearby birthing center.Montgomery was arrested the next day after showing off the premature infant, Victoria Jo, who is now 16 years old and hasn’t spoken publicly about the tragedy.Prosecutors said the motive was that Montgomery’s ex-husband knew she had undergone a tubal ligation that made her sterile and planned to reveal she was lying about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of two of their four children. Needing a baby before a fast-approaching court date, Montgomery turned her focus on Stinnett, whom she had met at dog shows.The U.S. has executed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-coronavirus-pandemic-executions-736b68c22e821be7c5faa85f1bf0b245">10 people at Terre Haute</a>&nbsp;since the resumption of federal executions after a 17-year pause started on July 14. Anti-death penalty groups said President Donald Trump was pushing for executions prior to the November election in a cynical bid to burnish a reputation as a law-and-order leader.The last woman executed by the federal government was Bonnie Brown Heady on Dec. 18, 1953, for the kidnapping and murder of a 6-year-old boy in Missouri.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/47889ad17a0547398f6818c47a33b9a9">last woman executed by a state</a>&nbsp;was Kelly Gissendaner, 47, on Sept. 30, 2015, in Georgia. She was convicted of murder in the 1997 slaying of her husband after she conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death.-------------MISSION, Kan. (AP) — A judge has granted a stay in what was slated to be the U.S. government’s first execution of a female inmate in nearly seven decades — a Kansas woman who killed an expectant mother in Missouri, cut the baby from her womb and passed off the newborn as her own.Judge Patrick Hanlon granted the stay late Monday, citing the need to determine Montgomery’s mental competence. Lisa Montgomery faced execution Tuesday at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, just eight days before President-elect Joe Biden, an opponent of the federal death penalty, takes office.Montgomery drove about 170 miles from her Melvern, Kansas, farmhouse to the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore under the guise of adopting a rat terrier puppy from Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a 23-year-old dog breeder. She strangled Stinnett with a rope before performing a crude cesarean and fleeing with the baby.She was arrested the next day after showing off the premature infant, Victoria Jo, who is now 16 years old and hasn’t spoken publicly about the tragedy.“As we walked across the threshold our Amber Alert was scrolling across the TV at that very moment,” recalled Randy Strong, who was part of the northwest Missouri major case squad at the time.He looked to his right and saw Montgomery holding the newborn and was awash in relief when she handed her over to law enforcement. The preceding hours had been a blur in which he photographed Stinnett’s body and spent a sleepless night looking for clues — unsure of whether the baby was dead or alive and no idea what she looked like.But then tips began arriving about Montgomery, who had a history of faking pregnancies and suddenly had a baby. Strong, now the sheriff of Nodaway County, where the killing happened, hopped in an unmarked car with another officer. He learned while en route that the email address fischer4kids@hotmail.com that was used to set up the deadly meeting with Stinnett had been sent from a dial-up connection at Montgomery’s home.“I absolutely knew I was walking into the killer’s home,” recalled Strong, saying rat terriers ran around his feet as he approached her house. Like Stinnett, Montgomery also raised rat terriers.Bobbie Jo Stinnett’s mother, Becky Harper, sobbed as she told a Missouri dispatcher about stumbling across her daughter in a pool of blood, her womb slashed open and the child she had been carrying missing.“It’s like she exploded or something,” Harper told the dispatcher on Dec. 16, 2004, during the desperate yet futile attempt to get help for her daughter.Prosecutors said her motive was that Stinnett’s ex-husband knew she had undergone a tubal ligation that made her sterile and planned to reveal she was lying about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of two of their four children. Needing a baby before a fast-approaching court date, Montgomery turned her focus on Stinnett, whom she had met at dog shows.Montgomery’s lawyers, though, have argued that sexual abuse during Montgomery’s childhood led to mental illness. Attorney Kelley Henry spoke in favor of Monday’s decision, saying in a statement to the Capital-Journal that “Mrs. Montgomery has brain damage and severe mental illness that was exacerbated by the lifetime of sexual torture she suffered at the hands of caretakers.”Her stepfather denied the sexual abuse in videotaped testimony and said he didn’t have a good memory when confronted with a transcript of a divorce proceeding in which he admitted some physical abuse. Her mother testified that she never filed a police complaint because he had threatened her and her children.But the jurors who heard the case, some crying through the gruesome testimony, disregarded the defense in convicting her of kidnapping resulting in death.Prosecutors argued that Stinnett regained consciousness and tried to defend herself as Montgomery used a kitchen knife to cut the baby girl from her womb. Later that day, Montgomery called her husband to pick her up in the parking lot of a Long John Silver’s in Topeka, Kansas, telling him she had delivered the baby earlier in the day at a nearby birthing center.She eventually confessed, and the rope and bloody knife used to kill Stinnett were found in her car. A search of her computer showed she used it to research caesareans and order a birthing kit.Stinnett’s husband, Zeb, told jurors his world “crashed to an end” when he learned his wife was dead. He said he didn’t return for months to the couple’s home in Skidmore, a small farming community that earlier gained notoriety after the 1981 slaying of town bully Ken Rex McElroy in front of a crowd of people who refused to implicate the killer or killers. That crime was chronicled in a book, “In Broad Daylight,” as well as a TV movie, the film “Without Mercy” and the miniseries “No One Saw a Thing.”Recently, on Victoria Jo’s birthday, he sent Strong, the sheriff, a message through Facebook Messenger thanking him.“I just wept,” Strong recalled. “He is going to constantly be reminded of this whether in his nightmares or somebody is going to call and want to interview him. The family doesn’t want to be interviewed. They want to be left alone. The community of Skidmore has had a troubling past and history. They didn’t want this. They didn’t deserve this.”Montgomery originally was scheduled to be put to death on Dec. 8. But the execution was temporarily blocked after her attorneys contracted the coronavirus visiting her in prison.The resumption of federal executions after a 17-year pause started on July 14. Anti-death penalty groups said President Donald Trump was pushing for executions prior to the November election in a cynical bid to burnish a reputation as a law-and-order leader.U.S. officials have portrayed the executions as bringing long-delayed justice for victims and their families.-----MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Becky Harper sobbed as she spoke to a Missouri dispatcher after stumbling across her expectant daughter in a pool of blood, her womb slashed open and the child she had been carrying missing.“It’s like she exploded or something,” Harper told the dispatcher on Dec. 16, 2004, during the desperate yet futile attempt to get help for her daughter, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who had been eight months pregnant.Lisa Montgomery, who strangled Stinnett with a rope before performing a crude cesarean and fleeing with the baby, awaits execution Tuesday, just eight days before the presidential inauguration of death penalty opponent Joe Biden. If the lethal injection is carried out as scheduled at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, Montgomery would be the first woman executed by the federal government in about six decades.Montgomery drove about 170 miles from her Melvern, Kansas, farmhouse to the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore under the guise of adopting a rat terrier puppy from Stinnett, a 23-year-old dog breeder.She was arrested the next day after showing off the premature infant, Victoria Jo, as her own. She is now 16 years old and hasn’t spoken publicly about about the tragedy.“As we walked across the threshold our Amber Alert was scrolling across the TV at that very moment,” recalled Randy Strong, who was part of the northwest Missouri major case squad at the time.He looked to his right and saw Montgomery holding the newborn and was awash in relief when she handed her over to law enforcement. The preceding hours had been a blur in which he photographed Stinnett’s body and spent a sleepless night looking for clues — unsure of whether the baby was dead or alive and no idea what she looked like.But then tips began arriving about Montgomery, who had a history of faking pregnancies and suddenly had a baby. Strong, now the sheriff of Nodaway County, where the killing happened, hopped in an unmarked car with another officer. He learned while en route that the email address fischer4kids@hotmail.com that was used to set up the deadly meeting with Stinnett had been sent from a dial-up connection at Montgomery’s home.“I absolutely knew I was walking into the killer’s home,” recalled Strong, saying rat terriers ran around his feet as he approached her house. Like Stinnett, Montgomery also raised rat terriers.Prosecutors said her motive was that her ex-husband knew she had undergone a tubal ligation that made her sterile and planned to reveal she was lying about being pregnant in an effort to get custody of two of their four children. Needing a baby before a fast-approaching court date, Montgomery turned her focus on Stinnett, whom she had met at dog shows.Montgomery’s lawyers, though, have argued that sexual abuse during Montgomery’s childhood led to mental illness. Her stepfather denied the sexual abuse in videotaped testimony and said he didn’t have a good memory when confronted with a transcript of a divorce proceeding in which he admitted some physical abuse. Her mother testified that she never filed a police complaint because he had threatened her and her children.But the jurors who heard the case, some crying through the gruesome testimony, disregarded the defense in convicting her of kidnapping resulting in death.Prosecutors argued that Stinnett regained consciousness and tried to defend herself as Montgomery used a kitchen knife to cut the baby girl from her womb. Later that day, Montgomery called her husband to pick her up in the parking lot of a Long John Silver’s in Topeka, Kansas, telling him she had delivered the baby earlier in the day at a nearby birthing center.She eventually confessed, and the rope and bloody knife used to kill Stinnett were found in her car. A search of her computer showed she used it to research caesareans and order a birthing kit.Stinnett’s husband, Zeb, told jurors his world “crashed to an end” when he learned his wife was dead. He said he didn’t return for months to the couple’s home in Skidmore, a small farming community that earlier gained notoriety after the 1981 slaying of town bully Ken Rex McElroy in front of a crowd of people who refused to implicate the killer or killers. That crime was chronicled in a book, “In Broad Daylight,” as well as a TV movie, the film “Without Mercy” and the miniseries “No One Saw a Thing.”Recently, on Victoria Jo’s birthday, he sent Strong, the sheriff, a message through Facebook Messenger thanking him.“I just wept,” Strong recalled. “He is going to constantly be reminded of this whether in his nightmares or somebody is going to call and want to interview him. The family doesn’t want to be interviewed. They want to be left alone. The community of Skidmore has had a troubling past and history. They didn’t want this. They didn’t deserve this.”Montgomery originally was scheduled to be put to death on Dec. 8. But the execution was temporarily blocked after her attorneys contracted the coronavirus visiting her in prison.The resumption of federal executions after a 17-year pause started on July 14. Anti-death penalty groups said President Donald Trump was pushing for executions prior to the November election in a cynical bid to burnish a reputation as a law-and-order leader.U.S. officials have portrayed the executions as bringing long-delayed justice for victims and their families.