State v. Zimmer

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Harman, C.:

William Frederick Zimmer was convicted of the offenses of kidnaping in the first degree, with harm inflicted (K. S. A. 21-449) and of murder in the first degree (K. S. A. 21-401). As punishment the jury imposed the death penalty for the kidnaping charge and life imprisonment for the murder. The trial court denied appellant’s motion for new trial, and adjudged sentences in accordance with the jury verdict, from which defendant Zimmer has appealed.

The charges grow out of the abduction and slaying of Gladys Cora Johnson, a Negro girl aged seven…