OLATHE — A trial for Derek Deon Owens, 32, a former Iolan accused of murdering Laura Coltrane, rural Humboldt, began Monday in Johnson County District Court.
Coltrane died Feb. 18 in her apartment in Olathe. Owens was arrested the same day, when authorities arrived after being summoned to deal with a medical emergency. Authorities found that she had been beaten and strangled.
Owens has an extensive criminal record in Allen County and elsewhere in southeast Kansas, as a juvenile and adult.
Coltrane, 29 at the time of her death, was the daughter of Doug and Cheryl Coltrane, rural Humboldt.
Doug Coltrane told the Register today that the trial was expected to continue into next week. The prosecution has spent all of this week making its case. Information about crime scene investigations was to have been presented today.
Laura Coltrane graduated from Humboldt High School in 2003 with a 4.0 grade point average. She earned an associate degree from Allen Community College and then completed the radiology technologist program at Labette Community College, Parsons.
She was employed by College Park Family Clinics in Kansas City.
Trial underway in Humboldt woman’s murder
