John Robert Kastner at Trial

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For two days this week, in District Judge Tom Gillert's court, they asked potential jurors question after question. This went on until both First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond and Chief Public Defender Pete Silva were satisfied that they’d seated twelve (plus the alternates) who could reach a just verdict without any prejudicial preconceived thoughts of the events they’d read or heard interfering. Wednesday when the trial began DA Drummond, in his OS, led them on a worded picturesque road of the events of that fateful morning Lori Moon Kastner lost her life.

Mr. Silva, of course, spoke of how of how John R. Kastner loved Lori. Mr. Silva apparently is arguing that the murder wasn’t at the devilish hands of his client but an intruder who came into the Kastner home, killed Lori, wounded John Kastner and stole a bag containing $5,000.00. (I truly wish him luck showing how the evidence fits that scenario.) Mr. Silva’s statement that some people are just numb and do not react is a truth but I ask, what was Mr. Kastner numb over? He purchased a gun, showed it to his adopted daughter and lied about why. Tests fired it and made sure she knew of that also.

Prosecutor Drummond is peeling away Mr. Kastner’s alleged plot one layer at a time. Law enforcement Officers David Moore, Mark Shelton, Detective Jeff Felton and Detective Kyle Ohrynowicz all have taken took the stand to tell the jurors what they saw and were told on that fateful morning of June 25, 2008. They testified how the scene was bloody and the family pet was on a pillow beside Lori’s head licking the blood from the bed. They spoke of how if an intruder entered the home he did not do so by forcible entry. They spoke as to how Mr. Kastner was lucid when they spoke with him. Kastner’s children spoke of how they were asleep when the murder happened and how their father told them he was an Israeli commando in the past. Mr. Silva’s statement that sometimes people are just numb and do not react is a truth but I ask, what was Mr. Kastner numb over? He purchased a gun, showed it to his adopted daughter and lied about why. Tests fired it and made sure she knew of that also.

( I personally am not surprised he expressed himself clearly that morning. He wanted to stress the intruder shooting him and Lori. He wanted to be a hero because he bravely fought a man with a gun. A man, in his story, who was asking about his adopted daughter’s whereabouts. I would've been yelling at the top of my lungs that police needed to go find the person who shot my spouse and myself. And also demand they go check on my daughter’s safety since the intruder was inquiring about her as he waved a gun at me.)

Although it may be a rather ominous forecast in Mr. Kastner’s defense and hopes of freedom, DA Drummond is using Kastner’s own words against in the trial. I think it’s significant that he is doing so. Mr. Kastner had written in his own words of how there was no next week. DA Drummond spoke of how Kastner wrote in his journal of how he puts things off and hoped things would cure themself. And how time does not slow or go backward.

DA Drummond has not only advised the jurors of Mr. Kastner’s lies to his friends, family and coworkers he had the foresight to have a man named Thomas Rowan of the Israeli consulate in Chicago testify that records do not show John Robert Kastner was an Israeli citizen nor that he was ever in their military.

( I wonder if J. R. Kastner could ‘go backward’ now if he’d still kill Lori or tell his students, coworkers and friends the Israeli commando story and that the ‘713 Corporation’ was nothing more that his fantasy, an entanglement of lies.)

Mr. Kastner lied to the police about the events that happened in the predawn hours before Lori was shot back on June 25, 2008. He lied about the race of the alleged intruder, and he lied about where he was in the home when that ‘intruder’ entered the home. He lied that the alleged intruder was searching for his adopted daughter. He lied to his adopted daughter about reasons on June 17, 2008 that he’d purchased a .22 caliber gun. And he lied as to why he tests fired the gun a couple days before the murder. He lied about the corporation he’d inherited from his father, and about the donations he was to make to the school. He lied about many things when he brought his fantasy world to life. And those lies came back to haunt him, and they are his demise. If indeed the jury decides he is the one who shot and killed Lori, he deserves all the sentencing punishment the Judge issues to him. Lying to family and friends is nothing more than a moral wrong. Lying to police to cover ones behind in a murder investigation is a legal crime. Police can lie to you but if you lie to them about facts involved in a crime, it hinders the investigation and, rightfully so, you pay the price.

I surmise that Mr. Kastner is still lying and wants to entangle jurors in his web, have them believe the lies just as he caught his friends, coworkers and family with his previous web. I think he has some serious mental issues with truth telling but he is not legally insane. (Although he isn’t contending that he is insane.)

One thing I am thankful for is that I have not read or heard any evidence coming forth that Lori fought for her life. So, she really was asleep as Mr. Kastner reportedly stated when she was twice shot. I am thankful she was unaware her husband ( I do still believe, due to all I have read and heard, that he killed her) and not an unknown intruder killed her. I am thankful their children were medicated and slept through the shooting. Lori by all I have read and heard was a beautiful soul and her children and family lost someone special. The Oklahoma Supreme Court Judges lost a good person too.

Mr. Kastner Is Delaying Justice . . . Again!

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Jury selection was set to begin August 16, 2010 but John Robert Kastner is again attempting to delay his trial. Apparently, Kastner’s newest lawyer, Jill Webb of the County’s Public Defender Office, has filed a change of venue motion. Mr. Kastner seems to think he won’t receive a fair trial in Tulsa due to all the media interest in his case. Kastner also claims (if you can believe anything he says) that he never agreed to use an insanity plea or that he is suffering from schizophrenia.

Well, Duh! Guess what Mr. Kastner, had you not allegedly lied numerous times to not only your wife and children, but to your students, the principal and the district officials of the Webster High School, where you were a trusted coach and a teacher, maybe you wouldn’t have gained so much popularity in the media. And, more important, had your story that you had not shot and killed Lori Moon Kastner, an attorney who had worked for the Oklahoma Supreme Court, been found believable via evidence at the crime scene, perhaps the public interest in your alleged part in the murder would’ve waned. Perhaps if you hadn’t allegedly told law enforcement that the person who shot and killed your wife was looking for your 19-year-old adopted daughter and wanting money then this case wouldn’t have gained so much interest.

Heck, you allegedly couldn’t keep your stories straight with how the shooting happened. What we have known is factual throughout this whole ordeal is that Lori was shot twice in the head! And you allegedly told police different stories of how you woke and struggled with the assailant. From the time LE first arrived and spoke with you, and when you were at the hospital just a few hours later, the story allegedly changed. Does that not scream that the public would want to know all the facts of the alleged home invasion? Does it not scream the public would want answers to who killed Lori and shot a well-loved coach and English teacher in the hand?

I think perhaps it isn’t just the negative media attention concerning your alleged lies that bug you but the fact that you were a respected and trusted teacher and coach at the High School that is the problem. You have to know that you’ve likely lost all the accolades of that distinction and possibly now only seen as a con man (due to the alleged non existent 713 Corporation stuff), and an accused killer. I really don’t see the school rehiring you, should you be found not guilty. I do however feel the court can find 12 honest citizens to sit on the jury in your county who is willing to put aside anything they’ve seen or read of your case and impart a fair verdict. I’d even go so far as to say you likely ‘will’ find potential jurors who know nothing about all the publicity surrounding your past and who will also be willing to look at the evidence in a fair and impartial manner.

My personal thoughts, from all I’ve read and heard on this case, are that between the lawyer who allegedly gave that statement about the insanity plea and Mr. Kastner, I go with the lawyer. Considering all the other alleged lies of Mr. Kastner, and they are numerous, I believe, he could easily be lying that he never verbally told the lawyer, John Byrd, he’d agree to plead insanity. We’ll have to wait and see if Mr. Byrd confirms the verbal agreement to know for sure. But like Mr. Kastner’s alleged mountain of lies, and all the changing of attorneys, he changed his mind about that also. And just as he allegedly blamed a supposed acquaintance of his adopted daughter for the shooting of Lori Kastner and home invasion, he is blaming his ex attorney for an alleged plea he doesn’t want to use. And I think, due to all I have read and heard on this case, that he is using that as another ploy for delaying his criminal trial. I ask, why didn’t he file this motion sooner? For instance - back in Jan of this year when the judge agreed to remove Byrd as his attorney and ‘again’ agreed to the public defender’s office assigning one? Why the wait until a few days before jury selection was set to begin?

I have to admit, although I am of full awareness this ‘I didn’t agree to plea insanity’ claim is a serious matter - (it could damage a lawyer’s reputation with the bar association), that an accused liar is calling another person a liar is rather comical. If you look at it from a certain standpoint that is. The idiom - ‘the pot calling the kettle black’ comes to mind.

Yes, Mr. Kastner deserves a fair trial and one that makes sure no one violates his rights; I approve of that. However, justice for Lori is indeed slow.


 

Dear Justice System, It’s Time John Robert Kastner Goes to Trial

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Please no more delays! The trial is set for Aug 16, 2010 and that date should stand.

John Robert Kastner has played the system for past 25 months. He was appointed a lawyer because he filed paupers’ status, fired that lawyer, got a local lawyer, John Byrd, to defend him, fired him when it was nearing time for trial, then hired himself as his lawyer in Jan 09, fired himself in April of 09. The public defenders’ office is now back on the case. Please Judge, do not let this man play the system again. The local lawyer, John Byrd, who I was advised volunteered to take the case, had mentioned Kastner would plea insanity. Is Byrd back on the case? I do not know. Who knows what will happen next.

Recently, Kastner learned what he told LE the night of the shootings will be heard by the jury. I definitely hope all his alleged fantasy lies about coming into wealth and sharing it with the school athletic department will be heard also. He allegedly had a propensity to tell a whooper for sure!

A little background:

All of the alleged fight and John and Lori being shot took place as young children slept in a nearby bedroom.

On June25, 2008 the police were called to a home due to a report of home invasion and shooting. Little did they know when they arrived they’d find former Oklahoma Supreme Court Attorney, Lori Moon Kastner dead in her bed from two gunshot wounds. One was later found to be a contact wound. Kastner allegedly told a detailed story of how an intruder, a dark-complexioned white or American Indian man, was standing at the foot of his bed holding a gun, his gun, when he woke. He, Kastner, struggled with the intruder and during that struggle he was shot in the hand.

An interesting tale, huh? - It gets better; Mr. Kastner allegedly told LE that the intruder shot his wife as she slept and when he heard Lori moaning shot her a second time. After the struggle, the intruder proceeded to run from the home, leaving a living witness and the gun behind. The intruder apparently stopped in the kitchen during his flight and grabbed a bag with monies in it along with the children and Lori’s passports. The passports were found neatly placed outside on the driveway of the home.

Then Kastner’s story changed.

You can read my previous articles on this story here:
http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2009/04/alleged-lies-and-murder-of-lori-kastner.html

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2009/12/john-robert-kastners-upcoming-trial.html
 

John Robert Kastner's Upcoming Trial

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/

Alleged Lies and The Murder Of Lori Kastner

　
　
　
When Lori Moon married John Robert Kastner in 1985, it was the beginning of the end for her. Lori, former Oklahoma Supreme Court attorney, died as she slept from a gunshot wound to the head, allegedly by her husband on June 25, 2008. John Robert Kastner was a Webster High School teacher and they arrested and charged him with her murder. There began the dissemination of an alleged life of lies.

When police arrived on the scene, they discovered Robert Kastner with a gunshot wound to his hand, Lori Kastner dead in her bed, and a home invasion scenario inside and outside the home.
Kastner told police an intruder, a dark-complexioned white or American Indian man, was standing at the foot of his bed holding a gun - belonging to Kastner - in his hand and asking ‘where is Whitney’ - the name of Kastner's adopted daughter. Whitney wasn't home. Kastner said he struggled with the intruder and in that struggle grabbed the barrel of the gun; it was then he was shot in the hand. He told them the intruder had shot Lori in the head and when he heard her moaning, shot her again.

Kastner's story of the intruder began changing with each telling of how his wife was shot twice. As he continued to live in his fantasy lies, the police lived in reality and became suspicious. Kastner's friends became suspicious too. Kastner had allegedly told them, the school administration and his students many stories over the years. One was that a philanthropist was going to make a large grant to boost academic programs, then that he'd gotten a huge trust fund and was planning to create a foundation. However, those alleged lies were only the tips of the iceberg. Kastner had convinced his wife Lori they were factual; she'd resigned her job and made plans to oversee the ‘713 Foundation’ with her husband.

Did love's rose-colored glasses have a strong grip on a seemingly intelligent woman and that love cost her life?

Kastner filed a pauper’s affidavit and represented by a public defender Marny Hill but wants to have the lead role in his own trial. His trial date is set for August 17, 2009.