Stevenson guilty in father's death

By MIKE CORN
mcorn@dailynews.net

WaKEENEY — After deliberating for nearly four hours Friday, a Gove County jury convicted David A. Stevenson of first-degree murder in connection with the death of his father.

Stevenson exhibited little emotion as the verdict was read, and individual jurors polled, other than to stare down at the table that he has been seated at for the last two weeks. Stevenson was convicted for the March 13, 2008, murder of his 85-year-old father, Walter A. Stevenson.

The solemn six-man, six-woman jury returned to the Trego County Courtroom after announcing that it had reached a verdict. Five law enforcement officers took up strategic positions in the courtroom to ensure nothing got out of hand when the jury’s decision was announced.

There was little reaction from the almost 30 people in the courtroom, many of them family and friends. David Stevenson’s daughter and his ex-wife, those closest to him, rushed from the courtroom shortly after the verdict was announced.

“Disappointed,” defense attorney Paul Oller said as he prepared to leave the courtroom.
Assistant Attorney General Steven Karrer, who was the lead prosecutor in the case, was obviously pleased with the verdict and instead expressed his appreciation to law enforcement agencies involved in the case.

“Justice was served,” he said.

With its verdict, the jury determined that Walter Stevenson died after he was struck several times in the back of the head and then was placed under the bed of a grain truck in a shop on the farm he and his wife, Bonny, owned in western Gove County.

District Coroner Lyle Noordhoek had determined that Walter Stevenson’s immediate cause of death was a result of the grain truck, but he said the head injuries prior to that eventually would have resulted in his death. As a result, he determined the death was a homicide.

Because Karrer is based in Topeka, District Judge Ed Bouker said sentencing would be scheduled later.

See Sunday's HDN for more details.