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Frazier Glenn
Cross, 74, a former senior member of the Ku Klux Klan who has
made derogatory remarks about Jews in preliminary court
hearings, chose to represent himself at his state trial in
Olathe, Kansas.
Cross, also known as Glenn Miller, could be sentenced to death
if convicted. About 200 people are on the witness list for the
trial and its penalty phase. Jury selection is expected to take
all week, court officials said.
Cross is charged with killing Reat Underwood, 14, and his
grandfather, William Corporon, 69, outside the Jewish Community
Center of Greater Kansas City, as well as Terri LaManno, 53,
outside a retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas. He is also
charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at three
other people outside the facilities. He has pleaded not guilty.
Cross drove up to both facilities in his car on a Sunday
afternoon and began shooting, according to evidence presented by
the state. Underwood was at the Jewish center for a singing
competition. He was in Corporon's car when they were shot.
LaManno had been visiting the retirement home when shot. None of
the victims were Jewish.
Johnson County District Court Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan ruled in
May that Cross could be his own lawyer after Cross said he did
not trust his state-paid public defenders to represent his
interests. In preliminary hearings Ryan has admonished Cross for
speaking out of turn and being disruptive. Three public
defenders remain on stand-by duty if Ryan feels they are needed.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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