Jury finds man guilty in 2006 killing of PB teen

By The Associated Press

HAMBURG — A jury decided Friday on a life-without-parole sentence for a McGehee truck driver convicted of kidnapping and strangling a 17-year-old Pine Bluff girl stranded alongside a south Arkansas highway when her vehicle ran out of gas.

Kenneth Osburn, 47, was found guilty earlier Friday of both capital murder and kidnapping charges in the Aug. 27, 2006, death of Casey Crowder, a senior at Watson Chapel High School. Crowder's body was found in woods a few miles from where her sport-utility vehicle ran out of gas on U.S. Highway 65 near Dumas.

Casey Crowder

After reaching its verdicts, the jury began the sentencing phase of the trial Friday afternoon. Melinda Crowder, Casey's mother, spoke directly to Osburn at one point during her testimony.

"You could have just pushed her out of your truck, but you chose to put a plastic zip tie around her neck and watch her die," Melinda Crowder said. "I'll never understand why you did this. You've also killed a part of me."

Osburn's defense called a series of character witnesses, including his mother Ruth Osburn. She asked for the jury to "please have mercy on my son."

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Osburn. Jurors had the task of deciding between that sentence and life in prison without parole, the only other penalty for capital murder under Arkansas law.

After the verdict, Melinda Crowder said the family felt relieved.

"He can never do this again," she told Little Rock television station KLRT. "He'll never be able to hurt anyone ever again."

Earlier in the week, jurors watched a videotape of investigators questioning Osburn after his arrest. On the tape, Osburn was seen and heard admitting to placing wire ties around Crowder's neck and watching her die.

Lawyers for Osburn told the jury police intimidated Osburn into admitting he kidnapped and strangled Crowder. The final witness for the defense, an expert in police interrogations and false confessions, said in his testimony Thursday that methods used to question Osburn about the slaying could have led to a false confession.

The trial was moved to Ashley County because of concerns about seating an unbiased jury in Desha County, where the crime occurred.