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Wichita Eagle

A fire, a body, a murder trial in Kingman after more than two years

On Monday, two years and 20 days after Vashti Forrest Seacat’s body was found in the charred remains of her Kingman home, attorneys will start picking jurors who will be asked to decide between two arguments already raised in court:

That the 34-year-old woman’s husband, Brett Seacat, a law enforcement trainer and former Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy, shot and killed her and set fire to their home, or that she started the blaze and then shot herself.

Felicia Ryder, who organized a candlelight vigil to remember Vashti Seacat soon after the tragedy, said that Brett Seacat’s first-degree murder trial will offer closure for the town. The case has been weighing on people, and the big old house where it all happened – now vacant and boarded up – is part of that weight, Ryder said.

Sedgwick County granted waiver to reduce staffing ratios at juvenile detention center

The state has given Sedgwick County permission to reduce staffing ratios at its juvenile detention center, which could save the county money and eliminate some mandatory overtime for employees.

The waiver from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is good through April 2, 2014.

KDHE’s regulations require one staff member per seven juveniles during the day and one staff member per 11 residents at night. The waiver will allow the county to have one staff member per eight residents during the day and one staff member per 14 juveniles during sleeping hours.