The rock that was allegedly used on Caleb was introduced into evidence Wednesday by WPD Detective Dan Thompson. 

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — A Sumner County District Court jury heard testimony from 10 witnesses including opening statements from the prosecuting and defense attorneys during the first degree murder trial of Lyndsey Nichole Blansett this afternoon.

The jury murder trial, the first of its kind in Sumner County in over a decade, got underway this afternoon after a day-and-a-half jury selection process. The nine-man, five-woman jury — 12 jurors and two alternatives – was assembled to decide the fate of Blansett who faces two felony counts of premeditated murder and aggravated assault in the death of her 10-year-old son Caleb.

Blansett, dressed in a brown sweater and plaid skirt, has been in attendance throughout the selection process and court proceedings. She has remained stoic and mostly outwardly emotionless as four Wellington Police Department officers, a forensic specialist, a coroner, an EMT, a funeral director, and two 911 dispatchers have come to the witness stand.

The day included a 11-minute audio tape of the 911 call and a series of pictures of the victim at a forensics office. A few pictures of Caleb in bed were entered into evidence but were not shown to the jury.

All evidence and witness testimonies today were introduced by prosecuting attorney Kerwin Spencer.

Spencer opened the court proceedings with a 15-minute presentation of the events that allegedly unfolded that night on Dec. 14, 2014. He spoke of the 911 call that was made at 11:45 p.m., the response of the WPD, the handling of the crime scene, and the autopsy.

Then he proceeded to describe Blansett’s night that led to the alleged murder.

Spencer outlined how Blansett had went through a divorce the year before, how she was raising the children on her own. Her husband was no longer providing child support, and she worried that the children would have nothing for Christmas.

That morning she had arranged for Clint, her ex-husband, to pick up Caleb and the younger 9-year-old daughter for school on Monday. But those plans changed in her mind as the day turned to evening, Spencer said.

“She had deduced that Caleb was a meek child who was picked on by his peers. She didn’t want the boy to suffer any longer,” Spencer said. “So she laid three knives out on the counter and waited for Caleb to go to sleep.”

Spencer said Blansett had checked on Caleb one time before going into the room, a makeshift bedroom in the living room, a second time to kill her son.

Spencer would detail the order of the killing. He said Blansett brought in a rock while he was sleeping and hit him in the forehand. He had awoken but had not died.

“She said he told her to stop, but she decided to complete the job,” Spencer said. “So she picked up the knife and struck him numerous times.”

•••••

Michael Brown, Blansett’s defense attorney then approached the jury for his opening comments. He too painted a picture of the trouble Blansett was having in her life. He spoke of Blansett’s desire to put her children up for adoption so a Reverend and his wife in the community could have children. But Blansett was unable to get this accomplished. He also spoke of the Lincoln Elementary principal John Walton, who saw a change in her personality.

And then he spoke about the travails of mental illness.

“At the end of the day, you the jury have to wrestle with the question, why would someone in their right mind do this to a child?”

•••••

Spencer called his first witness. Chuck Kenny, a Wellington EMS worker that evening, spoke of responding to the home after the 911 call to see a child who was lying motionless covered in blood. He checked for vital signs and found none. There was significant amount of blood on the left pectoral area. He relayed information to the SRMC emergency room that the patient was Code Black, meaning he would be dead on arrival.

•••••

Both Cornejo/Day Funeral Home owner Tytus Cornejo and Bill Upton, an employee at the funeral home at the time, spoke about transporting the body to Wichita to the Regional Forensic Center in Wichita.

•••••

Dr. Timothy Gorrill, an anatomic and clinical pathologist for the Sedgwick County Regional Forensics office, then took the stand. He described the body arriving with seven stab wounds in the left chest and a significant head wound.

Spencer then put up 11 pictures on the projection screen for the jurors and members in the audience. Gorrill described the various wounds on the body that included the forehead wound, contusions on his chest, the back that showed marks for which the knife had gone all the way through his body, and abrasions on his hands where he had attempted to fight off the knife blows.

•••••

Wellington Police Chief Tracy Heath provided testimony of the process that the WPD went through including the interviewing process and the gathering of evidence.

•••••

Dispatcher Marcie Bristor, who only recorded the tape and was not there that evening, introduced the 911 tape into evidence. After a delay in which the audio recording was not working properly at the proceeding, jurors then listened to the 911 tape.

•••••

Todd Pettegrew, Sumner County 911 dispatcher at the time of the alleged murder, took the stand and described the events during that call. He said he had put Blansett on hold during the process to call the WPD and EMS, in hopes of keeping her on the line.

•••••

Wellington Police officer Sara Owens then took the stand and testified she was the first to arrive on the scene. She said when she arrived the house was completely dark. Her 9-year-old daughter was with her and was crying.

“Nicole was covered in blood,” Owens said. “She was wearing a light blue shirt and she was wringing her hands which were covered in blood.”

Owens said she found Caleb lying on his bed in a makeshift bedroom which was actually part of the living room but had a black curtain around it. He was bare chested with red pajama type pants and he was covered in blood. She said she went back to Nicole to ask what happened. Nicole was speaking incoherently about how Caleb would have his arms cut off like an animal in the future if she hadn’t done something. She told Owens she wanted to save Caleb from all those years of pain.

•••••

WPD officer Keith Westmoreland spoke about finding the knife on the dresser, taking the little girl from the crime scene to the WPD, filling out the affidavit for the coroner, and other police duties.

•••••

Coroner Larry Anderson said he ruled the death a homicide and the cause was a loss of blood to the left chest. He made the determination at 8:40 a.m. Brown incredulous asked why it would take so long to get a coroner’s report for a murder that took place at 11:30 the night before. Anderson said he didn’t know.

•••••

Thompson was the last to speak for the day. He described the scene upon his arrival and how Caleb was lying not quite in the center of the bed in a pool of blood.

He established the whereabouts of the knife which was on the corner of the dresser next to the bed. He said he had found a rock that seemed out of place in the bedroom, but did not think it was relevant to the crime scene at first until fellow WPD detective Bobby Wilson called him a few hours later to report Blansett during the second or third interview had admitted striking Caleb with a rock.

Thompson then introduced to the jury what appeared to be a crystal-like rock that was 10 inches long and eight inches wide. It was submitted into evidence.

He then introduced what appeared to be a long kitchen knife. Brown wanted Thompson to establish that this was indeed the knife used on Caleb that was placed in evidence. Thompson established it was the same one taken to the KBI lab in Great Bend.

Much of the rest of the testimony surrounded the location of the blood drops, the makeup of the house and the location of various items in the house.

Spencer asked if there was any medication out of place. After Brown’s objection was overruled, Thompson said there was white powder on a bowl and a dish ceramic that might have come from a capsule that was pulled apart.

•••••

Testimony resumes at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the courthouse.

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