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Columbia Missourian

Court orders new trial in Kansas City-area double killing

By The Associated Press
October 27, 2009 | 3:43 p.m. CDT

KANSAS CITY — A Missouri appeals court has overturned the convictions of a man accused of killing a Kansas City-area couple at a Bible store.

Prosecutors said DNA tests linked Kellen McKinney of Kansas City, Kan., to the October 2004 stabbing deaths of John and Mildred Caylor in Raytown.

McKinney was convicted last year of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of attempted escape. He was later sentenced to four life sentences without parole.

The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District on Tuesday threw out the convictions and ordered a new trial. The court said the escape charge should have been tried separately because it wasn't connected to the killings and may have prejudiced the jury.