A member of the same danceline as murder victim Jodi Sanderholm described in Cowley County District Court Wednesday morning how she was followed by a man she later identified as the same man accused of raping and murdering Sanderholm last January .
Lori Legleiter was one of the first witnesses called in the preliminary hearing being held for Justin Thurber of Arkansas City. Thurber was 23 when charged with capital murder, rape, kidnapping and sodomy in the death of the 19-year-old Cowley College student.
The hearing is expected to last about three days.
Legleiter testified she got off work at the Sirloin Stockade in Arkansas City about 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 2, and noticed a light blue car drive by the restaurant several times as she was leaving.
The car followed Legleiter when she left. ‘It felt like something strange was going on,” she said.
Legleiter went to the police station and parked, thinking he would leave her alone. She didn’t see him after she stopped, so she headed home again. She returned to the police station after seeing the car following her again, and then hurried home. Legleiter said she did not go into the department because she thought it was a prank.
The following Friday, Jan. 5, the Tigerette Danceline had practice at the W.S. Scott Auditorium. Legleiter and Sanderholm arrived about the same time and parked close to each other as they normally did. Legleiter noticed the blue car again.
She said the car followed her through the parking lot and then passed on by when she parked. Legleiter testified she saw the driver and identified him in court as Thurber. She and Sanderholm left practice at the same time and were to meet later. Sanderholm never showed up.
Thurber is accused of kidnapping Sanderholm on Jan. 5. Her body was found in a rural area of southeast Cowley County Jan. 9. Her car was found the same day at the bottom of the Cowley State Fishing Lake, about 11 miles from where her body was discovered.
Attorney General Paul Morrison, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Bausch, and Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith are prosecuting the case. Tim Frieden and Rob Evans of the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit are defending Thurber, who is being held on $1 million bond.
District Judge Jim Pringle is presiding and will decide at the end of the hearing whether there is sufficient evidence for Thurber to stand trial.
Security is tight at the Cowley County Courthouse where the hearing is being held. Thurber is wearing ankle chains.
