Tow hitch helps tie two deaths
The suspect in a man’s killing also was charged in another homicide.
By CHRISTINE VENDEL
The Kansas City Star
December 4, 2006
When Kansas City police drained a lake in Blue Valley Park 11 months ago, they found exactly what they were seeking: a tow hitch allegedly used to beat a man to death.
Eventually, that tow hitch helped police tie two murder cases to the same suspect.
Police also found four handguns, a rifle and a double-barreled shotgun when they drained the 2.6-acre lake near 24th Street and Topping Avenue in January. Those guns remain untested at the Kansas City crime lab, where they sit among a backlog of about 600 weapons, bullets and shell casings.
Draining the lake took several days and garnered considerable media coverage.
Police searched for a tow hitch after receiving a tip in the 2005 killing of Emanuel L. Gragg, 33. Firefighters had found his body Feb. 5, 2005, inside his burning home in the 2800 block of Oakley Avenue. His hands and feet were bound with duct tape, and there was a piece of duct tape on the side of his head. He had suffered severe head trauma.
Police had few clues. The investigation dried up.
On May 5, 2005, a gunman barged into a home in the 5600 block of Bonita Street carrying a sawed-off shotgun and fatally shot Robert W. Keyton, 46, in the head in front of three witnesses.
The witnesses identified the gunman as Lloyd D. Davis, 30, of Kansas City, according to court records. One witness told police that Keyton told her the night before he was killed that Davis had confided in him about his involvement in the Gragg homicide, according to court records.
Police think the shooting stemmed from Davis’ desire to keep his secret. If that was his plan, police say, it backfired.
Police arrested Davis a day after Keyton’s killing. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Homicide Sgt. Barb Eckert said investigators then began looking at Davis as a suspect in the Gragg killing.
In July 2005, police interviewed someone close to Davis who also said Davis mentioned he was involved in the Gragg homicide. That woman said she picked up Davis at his home shortly after firefighters arrived down the block at Gragg’s house. She told police she drove Davis to Blue Valley Park, where he allegedly walked onto the dock and dropped a black vinyl bag containing wooden sticks and a tow hitch into the lake.
Police sent divers into the lake, but the water was too murky. Police then arranged for the lake to be drained. They recovered a black vinyl bag containing what the witness described, court records said.
Five months ago, a grand jury indicted Davis, 30, in both cases, charging him with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and armed criminal action. His trial is set for June.
Police wanted the crime lab to test-fire the guns found in the lake and compare ballistics to those involved in unsolved crimes. But for now the guns are untested.
Crime lab director Linda Netzel said the guns will remain near the back of the queue unless police get credible information linking one to a specific crime.
“I’m not sure when we’ll be getting to those,” she said. “We had a lot of gun homicides in 2005 and so far in 2006. Those take priority.”
Netzel said her lab knocked about 300 cases off the firearms backlog last year using a grant to pay workers overtime. The lab didn’t win the grant this year, but Netzel is hoping to win one next year.
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To reach Christine Vendel, call (816) 234-4438 or send e-mail to cvendel@kcstar.com.
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© 2006 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.