A little background on this upcoming murder trial.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 John Robert Kastner told a tall tale of waking to discover a man standing at the foot of his bed. The man, according to him, was looking for someone his daughter knew. The 19-year-old daughter wasn’t at home but his other daughter and son were sleeping when the shootings occurred. This intruder proceeded to fight with him and shoot Kastner’s wife twice in the head; during the altercation he was shot in the hand. The evidence did not pan out for law enforcement and on June 27, 2008 they arrested Kastner for the murder of his wife.
Lori Moon Kastner was a judicial assistant with the Oklahoma Supreme Court. She quit her job in May of 2008 to follow Kastner in a fictional world that he’d convinced her was a real world. She’d gone so far as contact a bank about opening an international account for a corporation called ‘713 Corporation’ which would handle millions of dollars. Sadly, Lori’s love covered over her legal training and analytic intelligence.
Since his arrest, John Robert Kastner’s story has changed. Justice for Lori has been fraught with delays due to her husband’s play with the legal system. He pled not guilty, fired his public defender lawyer, wanted to defend himself and then hired a Tulsa high profile lawyer named John Byrd.
More recent news.
Kastner’s attorney John Byrd didn’t show for a couple court hearings this month but before Christmas he did file a motion for yet another delay saying his client was entering an insanity plea.
This motion, if accepted by the court, will likely postpone the Jan 4, 2010 date that was previously set for jury selection to begin. The insanity defense strategy is odd to me since Byrd has mentioned that Kastner stated he did not shoot his wife. Who did then? Surely not the intruder, whose race changed from native American to white, since no such person has ever been found. And too, the alleged shooter must have walked on air since he managed to not leave footprints in the blood during his struggle with Kastner. Then again, maybe that 22-caliber gun Kastner bought a week before the shooting, and allegedly practiced shooting in his backyard, simply jumped in his hand and spoke to him, demanding that he shoot Lori twice.
The probable new trial date is looming large as yet another delay in the cry for Lori’s justice since the Prosecutor, First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond, said if Kastner changes his plea to insanity they’d need time to prepare and to have an expert to evaluate Kastner.
I am not saying Kastner is guilty of this murder; it hasn’t gone to court and heard by a jury. But, I do think this man has some mental issues. Is he criminally insane? My personal opinion is no; I think he opted to live in his fantasy world and not in the real world. Unfortunately, he didn’t put his fantasies onto paper as a fictional novel and chose to drag his wife into the fantasy also. Appearances can be deceiving, both physically and mentally, but that choice makes him appear guilty to me.
When this trial does actually go live inside a Tulsa court, it’s possible no cameras will be allowed. The judge has previously stated none would be and they have allowed no recording devices which mean live text updates won’t be available either.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/
http://www.newson6.com/
Just a quick comment to correct some of your facts. First, John's story is that an intruder came in asking for the eldest daughter (was was at least 18 at the time, not 17), not a friend. Second, for the most part, his story has never changed with regards to what he claims happened that night. What has changed is some other details about his extended family, where his money came from, etc. I don't believe the bank account you refer to was ever actually opened, but inquiries had been made. With regards to his current attorney, John Byrd...he is not a high profile attorney. In fact, is appears to be just a nobody lawyer in town. Kastner didn't specifically hire him but rather Byrd, presumably after reading about the case in the papers, volunteered to be Kastner's attorney and he is doing it for free. The best anyone can tell is that Byrd is doing it hoping to get some publicity for himself. Most will agree with you on the rest of your assessment but I did want to clarify these factual details.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving your opinion of this blog piece. I have changed Whitney's age. She was 19 not 17 as I had said here.
For my assertions in this blog piece, I simply refer you to the affidavit.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/items/JohnKastneraffidavit.PDF
and also numerous articles published by tulsa world and newson6.
JRK angers me. And what angers me is that he did use his adoptive daughter in his scenario. I feel he did so to throw suspicion on her and the acquaintance he mentioned to LE (he told them the intruder inquired about this acquaintance) after the murder.
I think he had the idea LE would be so busy investigating her and her friends as suspects that he'd go free. (anoother fantasy maybe?) I base this not only on his asking about her and her alleged acquaintance but also on the passports. The alleged bag contained not only money but passports according to JRK. (JRK's passport wasn't even up to date.)
I ask, what dumb criminal, after twice shooting a woman and wounding JRK, would take time to stop just outside the home to check the bag and neatly discard passports?