By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The defendant in a double homicide has been bound over for trial following more than six hours of testimony during his preliminary hearing in Reno County District Court.
Kyle Hardwick was bound over on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 58-year-old Phillip Anstine and 56-year-old Marion “Ed” Bates in August of 2021. He is also charged with theft and had a fourth count of solicitation of perjury for trying to convince a friend, Sherry Reed, to lie on the witness stand or not show for the hearing at all.
Testimony Thursday morning came from friends of Bates and Anstine. Both Cathy Havell and Dawnita Joe Hartung testified they tried to get a hold of Bates over a period of two days. They testified that they drove out to a place called the "compound" east of Hutchinson where they met a man who ended up being Hardwick. He told the two women that the pair of victims had gone to town to buy cigarettes.
The two men were eventually found, Bates in a ditch covered in tree limbs and Anstine in a pit used for burning trash, his body consumed by a fire in the pit. Forensic evidence showed that Bates had been shot twice in the face while Anstine had been shot at least once in the back. The barrel of a shotgun was also found in the burn pit.
Detectives and deputies of the Reno County Sheriff’s Department also took the stand testifying about the amount of evidence they collected. DNA samples taken from items found in a camper were connected to Hardwick. DNA testing was also done on the two victims to identify them. Evidence collected from the scene included 12-gauge shotgun shells, two where Bates was allegedly shot and one more about 75 feet away near the burn pit where Anstine was found. Also found were a debit card, a receipt, a bus ticket and social security card, all belonging to the defendant.
The additional count of solicitation to commit perjury was added after a phone call between the defendant and Reed was played in court. Reed had just finished testifying but could not remember much about phone calls she got from Hardwick or much of anything else other than she drove him to a bus station in Kansas City. In the recorded FaceTime conversation, Hardwick repeatedly tells Reed not to show up for the hearing and, if she did testify, to tell the court she was mentally unstable and on drugs. At one time he said, “Please don’t come,” and repeatedly said, “you don’t have to show up.”
There was also testimony about a red Ford truck that was taken from the crime scene. That truck, which belonged to Anstine, was found at Pretty Prairie Road and Victory Road in October. Fingerprints tested from the truck belonged to Hardwick, although Detective Matthew Franklin with the Reno County Sheriff's Department could not say that the prints were put there during the murder and could have been placed there at any time. The defense for Hardwick asked few questions during the hearing, but did say during the testimony from Reed that Hardwick had said he was drugged and raped by the two victims. He is also quoted as saying that “Phil was a friend and he dropped like a martyr.”
Hardwick was arrested in Maize Sept. 1 near a Dollar General store where he had allegedly made purchases. The clerk at the store told detectives that Hardwick said to her that his truck had broken down near Hutchinson and that he walked to Maize. Detectives were able to locate Hardwick from a ping on a cell phone. He was found in an abandoned grain elevator.
Hardwick will be arraigned July 5 before Judge Keith Schroeder.
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