Penalty Phase Starts In Cannibalism Slay

EMAIL TO A FRIEND PRINT VERSION

NORMAN, Okla. (AP)—A man convicted of murdering a 10-year-old girl in a cannibalism plot is mentally ill and was out of touch with reality, his attorney told jurors Monday as he urged them to spare his client from execution.

Attorney Wayne Woodyard said Kevin Underwood, 28, led an unremarkable life that began spiraling out of control because of mental illness, including depression, before Jamie Rose Bolin was killed April 12, 2006.

Woodyard said medical experts will testify that Underwood suffered from bipolar disorder, social anxiety, panic attacks and numerous deviant sexual disorders.

Prosecutors said Underwood qualifies for the death penalty because he poses a continuing threat to society and because the girl's killing was especially heinous and cruel. Prosecutor Susan Caswell also said he showed no remorse.

"The only concern that he expressed was the concern that he would get caught," Caswell said.

The penalty phase of Underwood's trial began Monday. Jurors could sentence the former grocery stocker to death by injection or give him a life sentence with or without the possibility of parole.

Underwood said in a videotaped confession played for the jury last week that he lured the girl into his Purcell apartment with a pet rat, hit her with a cutting board and smothered her.

Her body was later found in a plastic tub in his apartment with her head nearly cut off.

Underwood said a cannibalism fantasy fueled his actions.

No evidence has been presented that any actual cannibalism took place, but prosecutors called investigators who said gruesome images of cannibalism and medical autopsy photographs and videos were found in Underwood's apartment.

Prosecutors also called a south Oklahoma City hairdresser who testified that Underwood made some unusual comments to her just days before he killed the girl.

"He asked me if I knew how to cook organs," Elvira Griffin said. "That just came out of the blue."

Jamie's parents took the stand as well.

"We did everything together," said her father, Curtis Bolin. "After me and her mother separated, it was just me and her."

Throughout the trial, Underwood, a heavyset man with bright red hair, has shown no emotion and avoided eye contact with witnesses and family members in attendance.

Defense attorneys said Underwood was socially awkward from a young age, a condition that continued to grow as he reached adulthood. They said Underwood was unable to develop normal relations and that he became sexually frustrated and turned inward, turning toward reading, video games and later hardcore Internet pornography.

Defense attorneys called friends and relatives of Underwood who testified that he was smart and a good student but was frequently bullied.

"He sat there like a sponge absorbing the bullying. It was not in his nature to fight back," said Chris Lansdale, who grew up with Underwood and said he considered him "like a brother."