The opinion of the court was delivered by Oscar L. Burnison, Roger P. Oden, and James H. "Fuzzy" Widener
appeal their first-degree murder convictions (K.S.A. 21-3401),
claiming the trial court erred in (1) admitting physical evidence
it had previously suppressed, (2) failing to instruct on
involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of
first-degree murder, (3) refusing to instruct the jury on the
unreliability of voice identification, (4) rejecting Burnison's
request for a continuance, and (5) admitting the redacted
statement of Widener into evidence. Richard Ebert was killed by two shotgun blasts in his tavern,
Captain's Galley, located near Kanopolis Lake in Ellsworth County
on July 1, 1987, at approximately 10:00 p.m. The Deputy Sheriff,
who found Ebert's body, testified he had been at the Captain's
Galley around 6:45 p.m. in response to Mr. Ebert's complaint that
"Fuzzy" Widener had stolen his dog earlier that evening. The
deputy located Widener's car at Jake's Place. After retrieving
the dog, the deputy advised Widener, who had been
[247 Kan. 21]
