HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Hutchinson man sentenced to at least 48 years in prison on a first-degree murder conviction will be back in a Reno County courtroom Friday. Charles Christopher Logsdon was successful in getting his case remanded back to court, citing ineffective counsel. The case was remanded by the Supreme Court in July of 2020.
Logsdon was convicted of intentional first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Jennifer Heckel in her home. The shooting was a case of mistaken identity. The court imposed a life sentence with a minimum term of 50 years. Logsdon appealed and asked the Kansas Supreme Court to reverse his convictions and vacate his hard 50 life sentence, which the court did. He was then resentenced to 25 years to life in prison plus another 23 years. A co-defendant in the case, Billy Craig Jr., is serving a 15-year sentence after entering a plea to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Logsdon has filed several other motions, but the one addressed at the moment is the ineffective counsel. Logsdon claims the defense failed to call 15 witnesses that could prove his innocence. The list includes cellmates, people he claims were with him the night of the murder, and a neighbor of Heckel who says she saw a white male in the victim's backyard a week before the murder. Former District Attorney Keith Schroeder has already filed a brief on the claims made by Logsdon.
He is also asking that District Attorney Tom Stanton, Keith Schroeder, who is now a district judge, and former prosecutor Steven Maxwell be removed from the case. Schroeder must already recuse himself since he is now a judge.
At the moment, Friday's hearing is a simple status conference on how the appeal is progressing through the court. The status conference is part of the 8:30 a.m. court docket in front of Judge Trish Rose.
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