Defense starts in Kansas City serial murder trial

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Lawyers for a man accused of killing seven women in Kansas City suggested Monday that the slayings might be the work of another man.

Lorenzo Gilyard, a 56-year-old former trash company supervisor, is on trial before a judge in Jackson County Circuit Court for seven deaths in 1986 and 1987. He faces life in prison if convicted in any of the killings.

As the defense began presenting its side in the trial Monday, a police officer testified that a boyfriend of victim Naomi Kelly had deep, fresh scratches on one of his arms three days after Kelly was found strangled. The boyfriend told police the scratches were left by the 4-year-old son of another girlfriend.

Witnesses at the time confirmed the boy had scratched and bitten others, according to testimony.

Gilyard initially was charged with killing 13 women and girls, most of them prostitutes, between 1977 and 1993. Prosecutors dropped six of the cases, leaving the seven they believed were strongest.

The dismissed charges can be refiled later, but prosecutors said they would be more difficult to try because of suppressed evidence.

Gilyard's lawyers agreed to a non-jury trial in exchange for prosecutors agreeing not to seek the death penalty. They contend their client is innocent and that proving sexual encounters does not prove murder.

Prosecutors concluded their case last week. It included testimony from a detective who said Gilyard commented about the victims being strangled even though police had not told him that detail.

Prosecutors also played a video from the interrogation in which Gilyard denied knowing any of the women.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com