State v. Mantz

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Kaul, J.:

Defendant-appellant, Wilfred Mantz, appeals from a conviction by a jury of murder in the first degree. (K.S.A. 21-3401.) The weapon employed in the killing was a high-powered rifle owned by defendant. Defendant admits the shooting of the deceased, John Sharp, but claims the evidence was insufficient to establish premeditation. Defendant specifies eighteen separate points, four of which were emphasized in his oral argument on appeal.

Defendant grew up in Larned where he was a childhood friend of the deceased. Defendant was forty-one years of age…