No one knows exactly how much it will cost Barton County to conduct a capital murder case, not even County Attorney Amy Mellor. But Mellor, who stopped by to visit with Commissioners in study session Monday, says the cost will be significant.

Four carnival workers have been charged in Arkansas in the murders of Alfred and Pauline Carpenter of Wichita during this year’s Barton County Fair. Those four are also accused of dumping the bodies of the slain Kansas couple at a remote Arkansas location.

Mellor says the four suspects will eventually be returned to Barton County to face murder charges here. She says the county will start to see bills coming in soon for the preliminary work in the case. Those bills will be small compared to the bills that will pile up to conduct a trial.

Amy Mellor Audio

That case isn’t the only murder case that the County Attorney’s Office is handling right now. Chaz Stephens of Hoisington is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend’s daughter, Ivionna, “Ivy” Lewis last March.

Amy Mellor Audio

Kimberly Younger, Michael Fowler, Rusty Frasier and Christine Tenney have already been charged in Crawford County Arkansas Circuit Court. The charges include abuse of a corpse in the deaths of the Carpenters.