In Kansas, a man originally charged with murder for severing the head of an acquaintance with a guitar string was sentenced to just over 4 years in jail following a plea agreement to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter.
According to the Topeka Capital Journal:
On March 14, 2014, a former girlfriend of [the defendant] testified
he told her he killed [the victim], by using a guitar string to sever the
victim’s head, then disposed of the body and kept the head in a bag. A part of
the victim’s skull was discovered March 24, 2012, at a house in rural
Carbondale in Osage County when [a woman] who lives with . . . the defendant’s
father, said she was searching for mushrooms. Instead, she found the top of [the
victim’s] skull.
However, as it came time to proceed to trial:
Other than a portion of the victim’s skull, prosecutors didn’t have the victim’s body, the murder weapon hadn’t been recovered, not all the prosecution witnesses were available, and prosecutors faced “credibility issues” with a major witness, [the prosecutor] said.
Not suprisingly, the family of the victim was outraged. But, "it's not what you know, it's . . . "
