Kora Liles, 32, was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder for orchestrating the March 2017 killings of three people
A Kansas woman accused of participating in the deaths of three people who were strangled or smothered with trash bags has been convicted of first-degree murder.
Kora Liles, 32, was found guilty Wednesday of 11 counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping.
She was one of five people charged in the March 2017 deaths of 19-year-old Matthew Leavitt, 38-year-old Nicole Fisher and 20-year-old Luke Davis in Liles’ basement in Topeka.
On Wednesday, a prosecutor called Liles the ‘Queen Bee’ for being in control during the kidnappings and killings, though they claim she did not physically carry out the murders.
Police said the violence stemmed from an unproven rape allegation against Leavitt. Liles had accused Leavitt of sexually assaulting her.
Prosecutors said Liles, of Topeka, orchestrated the slayings, while defense attorneys argued that other defendants killed the victims.
Shane Mays, 19, Brian Flowers, 33, and Joseph Lowry, 31 are awaiting trial for the murders.
While Joseph Krahn, 34, who prosecutors say killed the three victims, pleased guilty in October to the murders.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Dunbar said: ‘This is about what they thought Leavitt did. He was going to pay for it, and he did.’
Dunbar said that Liles ordered Flowers to bring Leavitt and Mays to her home after home where he was killed.
Court documents say that Leavitt and Mays pulled up to the house to pick up Fisher and both men were then forced into the house at gunpoint by Lowry and Flowers.
Dunbar said that Liles then called Krahn to come to the house, where he carried out the killings.
The three died by strangulation and suffocation, with Davis being killed first, followed by Fisher and then Leavitt, according to testimony.
When Mays testified he called Liles ‘pure evil’ and said she dictated to who lived and who died.
Liles will be sentenced September 5 by Shawnee County District Court Judge David Debenham.
Joseph Krahn is serving three consecutive life terms, while the other three defendants are awaiting trial.