State v. Beard

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Kaul, J.:

Defendant-appellant, Little Jim Beard, appeals from jury convictions on two counts of second degree murder. The charges stemmed from the shooting of Neal Wheeler and Edward Peltier in Wheeler’s Kansas City apartment on June 2, 1974.

The evidence disclosed that during the day, preceding the night of the shootings, the defendant and the two deceased had been drinking and taking drugs. Sometime around midnight the defendant and the two deceased became embroiled in a fight. According to the testimony of Gerald Belgarde, a cousin of the deceased…