The Kansas City Star, Jan. 13, 2003
http://www.kansascity.com/
By TONY RIZZO
The parents and baby sitter of 9-year-old Brian Edgar made their first appearances today in Johnson County District Court.
first-degree felony murder and two counts of child abuse, also a felony.
The child abuse charges involve two other children the Edgars had adopted, a 9-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy.
Neither the Edgars nor Boyd was required to enter a plea today. They received copies of the charges against them, and their next court appearances were scheduled for Jan. 21.
The three appeared by closed-circuit television hookup from the county jail, across the street from the courthouse.
The Edgars had lawyers, and the public defender’s office in Johnson County was appointed to represent Boyd.
Boyd also appeared on an unrelated theft charge. She was supposed to be in court on that charge on Jan. 2, but missed that appearance because she was in jail in Wyandotte County.
All three are being held in the Johnson County jail on $2 million bonds. Boyd also faces a $20,000 bond on the theft charge.
According to the Wyandotte County coroner, Brian Edgar died of asphyxiation after he was bound and gagged and his mouth was taped shut the night of Dec. 29. Neil Edgar took Brian’s body to KU Med the next morning.
The Wyandotte County district attorney’s office filed murder charges against the Edgars on Dec. 31, when authorities thought Brian had been killed at a house that the Edgars own at 750 N. 82nd Terrace in Kansas City, Kan.
Later, however, authorities determined that the boy died at a house the Edgars were renting at 15718 Birch St. in southern Overland Park.
The Edgars run God’s Creation Outreach Ministry in Kansas City, Kan.