In Memory of Zachary "zach" Hunt

NOTE: For the propose of this page, the murderer of Zach and Henry will be called "MFM"

Prosecution opens in Dollar General double-homicide trial

The Wichita Eagle - Posted on Oct. 01, 2013

By Hurst Laviana

Just 49 seconds after walking into a northeast Wichita Dollar General store, MFM approached a cash register with his arms extended and a silver .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol clutched in his hands, prosecutors told a Sedgwick County jury on Tuesday.

MFM fired three shots into clerk Zachary Hunt and three more into customer Henry Harvy, prosecutors said, before trying to run out of the store through a one-way glass entrance door that opens only from the outside. In the process, prosecutors said, Marshall planted his left palm firmly on the freshly cleaned door in a manner that crime scene investigator Anthony Decena said provided the •best possible scenario• for leaving usable prints.

"Does it get any better than that for a crime scene instigator looking for a fingerprint?", District Attorney Marc Bennett asked. "It's pretty good," Decena replied.

As MFM's capital murder trial entered its second day on Tuesday, it became clear that prints were lifted from the glass entrance door proved the basis of the state's case against Marshall, who is standing trial this weak, accused of capital murder. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. MFM faces a sentence of life without parole if convicted.

"This case is about one shooter with one gun, six shots and two men dead,· Assistant District Attorney Justin Edwards told the jury in his opening statement. "It's a plain, straightforward, simple case. (He) raises the gun and, without saying a word, fires six times into the bodies of Henry Harvey and Zachary Hunt.

Defense lawyer Ron Evans said he would offer his opening statement after the prosecutors haw finished presenting their evidence. Police haw not speculated about a motive for the shooting, but Edwards told the jury that video cameras in the store would show that the shootings were unprovoked.

Police said nine cameras were operating on Nov. 30 when MFM entered the store at 8:01 p.m. The jury watched video from each camera on Tuesday. The cameras were motion-activated, and most of them picked up little or no activity between 7:55 and 8:13p.m.- the time frame that was captured on files brought into court.

One of the cameras shows the shooter and victims in the moments before the shooting. It shows Harvey setting a shopping basket on the checkout counter and Hunt ringing up items on the cash register. The video then shows the shooter approach Harry from behind with his hand extended and a gun in his hand. Although the video does not include sound, it is clear when the shots are fired because both Harry and Hunt fall to the floor nearly simultaneously.

A second camera shows Hunt struggling to his feet and limping away from the register before collapsing. That second camera also shows the shooter placing a hand on the glass of the entrance door as he tried to leave. The shooter quickly backed up and ran out the exit door.

The video is not clear enough to make out the race or gender of the shooter.

A separate video showed a clerk at the store cleaning the glass where the prints were found at 2:20p.m. on the day of the shooting.

The final witness of the day was Wichita police Officer Lee Froese, who told the jury that he was assigned to watch Marshall on a closed-circuit television after MFM's interview with detectives ended when MFM asked about talking to a lawyer.

The camera was left running after detectives left the room, Froese said, but MFM began talking to himself and offered several puzzling statements.

"I was thinking about a full-out confession, but I don't know where to start," he said at one point, Froese told the jury. "My grandma thinks I killed two people; my mama thinks I killed two people; I'm starting to think I killed two people," MFM later said.

Although appellate courts haw ruled that a defendant's statements to police cannot be used in court if the defendant has asked for a lawyer, there is no precedent for admitting statements that a defendant makes to himself.

After a hearing outside the presence of the jury, District Judge Warren Wilbert ruled that MFM's statements to himself could be relayed to the jury.

"I swear I don't know how my fingerprints got on that door," MFM said at one point, Froebe said.

"I spend rest of life in prison for something I didn't do," he said at another point. "I spend the rest of my life in prison, and I didn't get to kill nobody."

The trial resumes Wednesday.

Man Found Guilty of Killing 2 at Dollar General

By Craig Andres - October 2, 2013

WICHITA, Kansas - After less than two days, the jury in the MFM murder trial found the 20-year old guilty of killing two at a Wichita Dollar General last November.

Video surveillance showed 79-year-old Henry Harvey and 22-year-old Zachary Hunt died when they were shot inside the store.

Harvey was at the counter buying candy fur his grandchildren when he and Hunt were both shot several times. MFM was arrested several days later in a traffic stop.

He was charged with capital murder, but prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty.

Tuesday morning, MFM appeared in front of the judge looking down from time to time as several witnesses took the stand to testify.

Prosecutors addressed the jury before hand telling them they bad key evidence, including surveillance video to prove that MFM was the suspected gunman.

"Yes, I think it's important, it's something we rely a great deal on, and I hope criminals take into account. They should be less inclined to do crimes of violence and in general because there is a surveillance camera somewhere that will catch them in the act," said Marc Bennett, Sedgwick County District Attorney.

The prosecution rested its case Wednesday morning and the defense rested without calling any witnesses. The jury got the case at 2:22 p.m and the deliberations lasted until 3:25.

MFM never took the stand in his defense, but defense lawyers say the surveillance video was not clear enough fur a conviction

''It is not clear," said defense attorney Ron Evans. "And you can't see. You can't identify anybody. Certainly not MFM from that video."

Sentencing will be in November.

Murder Coverage on News

Trial News Coverage

Conviction News Reporting

Trial notes 10/1/13

Prosecutors assigned to the case:

• Marc Bennett – currently Deputy District Attorney – will officially be DA in January

• Kim Parker – Chief Deputy District Attorney

• Justin Edwards – Chief Attorney

• Georgia Cole – Executive Assistant/Communications Director

• Kelly Otis – Chief of Investigations (former homicide Detective w/ Wichita PD)

Wichita Police Dept:

• Det. Tim Relph

• Lt. Randy Reynolds

• Det. Relph is the assigned detective and was at the meeting w/ Lt. Randy Reynolds

Witness 1: Trayvon goshay.

Man at back of store. In training. Heard gunshots, saw Zach limping to the staff room & hank on floor. He went to storage room to hide then came out after he heard woman's voice. Ran out of store & called 911.

**Only thing Ron Evans could say is that the bell was working. And asked Trayvon if he heard anyone talking.

2nd witness: Officer john Gould

8:10 pm got the call of possible shooting.

Saw hank on ground shot in face. One ems person allowed in store to see if they were dead. They were both dead. Clear it was too late for ems to help. No vital signs.

Two shell casings found on floor by front door.

Ron: saw no evidence store had been ransacked? Chips & soda on floor is all. Cash register not open. $10 behind counter.

3rd. Detective Paul Duff

Video 2001.28. 801 pm. Is when he came in. Shot at 802.

4th: Michael Ty flanigan

Now District manager in May. Got here at 830. Saw shell Casings & mr Harvey. Escorted around stand & saw Zach. Zach was a "lead key" manager. Lead key in charge for that evening.

Tiffany was asst manager. Police took box of recordings from several days.

Ron: only interested in the glass on the doors. Different people clean the glass every day. Do you know who cleaned the glass? Sequisha Robert working that morning. So it was your job to make sure the windows were cleaned. Jason: goal is to make sure things are cleaned. Ron: common for people to touch the glass? Yes.

5th Tiffany Newman: asst. Mgr.

Shayla & Sewuisha were both working that day. Normal shift has 3 employees. Every morning floors & windows are cleaned. Windows washed every day. She worked morning shift that dat until 3. She's seen video of windows being cleaned. Sequisha cleaned the windows. Ron: lots of people touch the glass. Did she check the window after it was cleaned? Ron: doesn't mean he had never been in the store. She knew mr Harvey.

6th: jerry pauper, photographer for wpd.

9 cameras were functioning being captured by dvr. 755-813 video shows. Cameras on motion capture only. Segment of video shows when window was clean.

6th; Sequisha

Left at. 730 to go shopping. Was supposed to work til

close.

7th: john pink

Hillside 400 block. Knew Marlin & his brother lived in the apt. Met him once. MF. He was aware of shooting. Marlin & he talked about it. Marlin said he knew MF might have been involved. Marlin showed MF to john. Asked john to talk to MF. He spoke with him. & told him to eat & calm down & MF said he'd fucked up. Was sick. Left 20 min later & police across street. John asked if he'd done it & MF kept saying he screwed up real big this time. Cops showed up later that day & john talked to them he asked why he did it. He was sick & they wanted him to go to ER. Nervous wreck. Wanted to shut it off in my head.

MF hands were shaped in a gun shape under the table & he was nodding head during testimony & rocking back & forth. Then john waved at him as he walked off the stand.

8th: Anthony Messina WPD

Glass just cleaned is a pretty ideal surface to obtain a print from. Couldn't ask for a much better situation than that.

Tremendous detail on the palm print. There were also swipe marks showing glass had been cleaned. But print very clear. This print almost perfect. Matte acetate card-- plastic sheet to lift fingerprints from a scene.

9th: WPD Daniel Winegar

Escorted prints back to city hall.

10th: mindy craig. Fingerprint analyst for WPD.

Prints taken after he was arrested match the ones on the door. 50 inches up from floor. She came in at 2 am to process prints. Another print was taken from the door going out. Placed into a database. Slide 4 (exit door) matched to Robert c Coleman. Other slides were from MF. Left palm, ring. & middle fingers are the prints that matched the database. Ron: lift 3 from going in door. Lift 3 not good. Lift 4

11th: lt. randy Reynolds det. 7 yrs in gang unit.

A Lt. of gang unit was called in for extra assistance. Arrived at 9 pm. Chief Williams was there. Randy in charge of the investigation. Police did a neighborhood canvas & looked at surveillance tape of other businesses. Ran bank ground check on hank & Zach & interviewed witnesses. Got MFM name at 4 am. Sunday afternoon arrested near 2nd & hillside. Near his His grandma's house at 1352 n Belmont.

12th: Ryan dozier WPD officer

Pulled over MFM at Second & erie just west of hillside. Pick up truck. Passenger was MF.

Hearing: to allow interrogation evidence & rambling a while he was in room alone. Interviewed the Interrogator & officer watching surveillance while MF was alone. Allowed all of what he said.

13th: Officer lee fraze

Asked to watch MFM while he was alone. Not I room with him but watched & heard him on monitor. Also was recorded. 430am MFM spoke to himself saying crazy they think I killed 2 people. Rest of my life in prison and I didn't even get to kill anybody. My mom. & Gma think I did it & I'm starting to think I killed them too. I don't give a fuck. I don't even like DG. I'm thinking about a full confession. I don't know where to start. What do you think? Wish I could bring you back. (Talked to himself for 3 hours).

Only one thing I wish I could take back is that one night. Heartbeat just so you could be here. Do you think it's over for me or what? Do you think I'd do something like this. I don't even like shooting a 22. I hate 22s a with a passion. I don't even remember going to DG that night. Idk how's fingerprints got on that door.

All I had to do was pull the trigger & you'd be here today.

Jury: 6 women, 7 men. 1 black woman, 6 white men, 2 Latino women, 3 white women, 1 Latino man.

Autopsy notes:

• 1st bullet: Left shoulder, upper lobe of left lung, aorta, trachea. Bullet recovered from tissue on right side of trachea.

• 2nd bullet: left mid chest. Lower lobe left lung, diaphragm, liver, spleen, stomach, left 9-10 intercostal space (between his last few ribs). Bullet recovered in his soft tissue near vertebrae 10.

• 3rd bullet: left upper abdomen. Penetrated skin, belly fat, small intestine. Bullet recovered from soft tissue in his right lower back.

• 4th bullet: left forearm. Skin & tissue. Bullet not recovered.

May 2 notes begin:

• Writ of habeous corpus for new attorney & conditions of confinement.

• Only few attorneys qualified

• Ineffective assistance premature.

• Withdrew motion for new counsel.

• Asked for 2 weeks before arraignment. May 16. Decide on capital or not.

• Video shows that it happened at 801 pm. He exited right after then 2 women came in about 810 & called 911

• KSN & channel 12.

• Pro Se: he Tried to fire his attorney for not coming to see him enough. Some defendants can have 3-4 attorneys.

• They have the fingerprints & other evidence including better facial recognition on another surveillance camera. Cameras in the area caught him running away on foot.

• Zach took a step forward after being shot to check on hank then walked another 30 feet towards office before collapsing. He was almost to the office door.

• Ty Flanagan - Left DG at 4. Called by pd at 8 to return to store. 9 cameras.

• CSI for Wichita pd: told to go to separate entrance. Officers stopped access to entrance after they were found. 2 casings found on the ground in lobby. On the scene 9 hours. Found 6 casings. On shelves, one under Hank, one under Zach's elbow. He shot Zach first than Hank. Hank fell first. Saw the video which showed him where to print the door. Got partial palm print & several fingerprints.

• 247 photos taken that night. 4 latent prints. Print Also taken from the other door.

• Det Ralph said they found the handprint on the entrance door, ran prints through a national system & had an ID by 3-4 am. His prints were in system from previous crimes.

Zach Hunt's Eulogy

One Small Act

They tell you when you become a parent to stop & appreciate the little things because when your kids are grown you realize those were the big things.

But you see, nobody needed to tell that to Zachary Hunt. Because at a young age, he already knew that about life.

He didn't have a story-book childhood. He wasn't rich. He moved a lot. School was a struggle at times. He wasn't sure what he wanted to be when he grew up. But he was loved. The constant in his 22 years on this Earth was that he was loved. And that love shone through that young man's soul every single time he smiled. And Zach loved to smile.

Famous author Leo Buscaglia said too often we underestimate the power of a smile, a kind word, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

Zachary never underestimated it. He understood. He knew that if you want to receive kindness, you must give it away freely. If you want to be happy, you must offer compassion. If you want to have good in this world we live in, you must do good.

Zach enjoyed playing in the Lee's Summit band & was a Marching Tiger for four years. He also loved computer games & Animè and was planning an office for his gaming.

He collected oriental swords & loved cats. He enjoyed watching movies, eating at Chipotle & drinking Dr. Pepper.

He was also a hard worker. He worked full time after high school & would help his fellow co-workers whenever they needed someone. The night he died, he was working. His customers knew him & have shared many stores about his smile, kindness & helpfulness. How many of us knows a night manager of a store we frequent by name? Zach's customers did. They placed a memorial outside that store & mourned him. They even donated money to the band in his memory. These people weren't his family. But he'd touched so many of them with his small acts of kindness that their hearts mourned when he was taken.

It didn't take much to make Zach happy, so he spent his time doing for others.

Just one small act at a time: walking the neighbor's dog, waiting until everyone had a ride home before he left work at night, asking everyone around him if they needed help, buying a sandwich for a co-worker who might not have had a meal that night, giving a homeless person a ride.

That was Zach 's legacy. One small act. That's what he would want you to carry on. He loved his family & friends, sure. But he also loved mankind.

Hebrews 10:24 "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works."

This is one of the hardest days of Zachary's loved one's lives. His mother wants to thank everyone here for being a part of his life.

The hurt may be a little deeper when it is your child, step child, grandchild, nephew, brother, or friend. But everyone here feels the pain. But today Zach would want you to bond together and give each other the strength to move forward.

Poet William Wordsworth said the best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. If that is true, Zachary accomplished more in his 22 years than some men do in a lifetime.

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.