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SLAIN TEEN’S MOTHER REACTS TO COURT DECISION TO OVERTHROW CONVICTION

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, June 26, 2009 11:26 PM CDT

Editor’s note: Kenneth Osburn’s name was spelled incorrectly in Friday’s edtion of The Commercial.

Casey Crowder Special to The Commercial

The mother of a Pine Bluff teenager killed in 2006 said Friday she was “kind of in shock” after the Arkansas Supreme Court late Thursday reversed the conviction and life sentence of the man convicted in the death.

“The worst day of my life was when I found out Casey was dead. I guess the second worst is knowing that her killer may get out of jail,” Melinda Crowder said when asked about the court’s decision regarding Kenneth Ray Osburn.

The high court said Osburn’s Fifth Amendment rights were violated when he was questioned by investigators who continued to talk to him after he asked for a lawyer. The case was sent back to Ashley County Circuit Court for another trial.

Osburn had been charged with kidnapping and capital murder in the Aug. 27, 2006, death of Casey Crowder, whose car was found along the side of U.S. 63 near Dumas, and whose fully clothed body was found Sept. 2 with a black zip-tie around her neck.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen from here,” Melinda Crowder said. “It feels like we’re kind of starting over again.”

Identified as suspect

Osburn was identified as a suspect two days after the body was discovered, but was not arrested until Sept. 28, and was taken to a shed on then sheriff-elect Jim Snyder’s property, where he was questioned by State Police Special Agent Rick Newton, and Special Agent Boyd Boshears of the FBI.

“Agents Newton and Boyd attempted to obtain a confession from Osburn and according to Agent Newton, used various tactics and investigative techniques in an attempt to ‘change his demeanor.’ While the transcript and recording of the interview reveal that at one point, Osburn asked the agents to call the lawyer, the interview continued,” the court said in its ruling.

“I trust that the criminal justice system is going to do the right thing but right now, we’re all wondering what the heck is going on,” said Pine Bluff Alderman Bill Brumett, the president of American-Eastern Little League Softball where Casey Crowder played for several years.

Two weeks ago, the league conducted a memorial tournament for the teen and Brumett said plans are already under way for another tournament next year in her honor.

“It’s such a tragedy that Casey died like she did and I hope that whoever did this pays the ultimate price,” Brumett said.

The court ruling was deeply divided, with Associate Justice Robert Brown noting that by throwing out the confession, “I am exceedingly doubtful that a retrial can occur.”

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