Justin Thurber’s days behind bars have afforded him time to put together letters complaining about the attorneys who prosecuted his case.
Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith confirms that Thurber filed an ethics complaint against Smith and Kansas Asst. Attorney General Vic Braden. Those two were key in convicting Thurber of capital murder in the death of Ark City’s Jodi Sanderholm.
The complaint was reviewed by the state’s disciplinary administrators office ? which is an office of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Smith said he was informed by the state that the accusations in a letter Thurber wrote were without merit and would not lead to an investigation.
"In my opinion, this is just a pathetic attempt by Mr. Thurber to attempt to remain relevant to people in Cowley County," Smith said. "He is sitting up in El Dorado, he has 23 hours a day on his hands that he is not able to do anything other than attempt to cause problems for people."
In a separate letter to the Arkansas City Traveler, Thurber accused prosecutors of hiding evidence and other ethics violations. Smith denied any such allegations and said he met with Traveler staffers Wednesday to go on the record.
No one from the disciplinary administrator’s office was available for comment Thursday.
