Jul 23, 2021

Kan. attorney general's staff to assist in Barton Co. murder case

Posted Jul 23, 2021 12:06 PM
Trejo photo Barton Co.
Trejo photo Barton Co.

By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post

On Monday evening, authorities arrested 36-year-old Elias Trejo as a person of interest in the murder of 39-year-old Micah Merryman-Scifres Sunday night at a hotel in Great Bend. Trejo is being held at the Barton County jail on a $500,000 bond.  

County prosecutor Levi Morris is in charge of prosecuting the murder case and has contacted the State Attorney General’s Office for help. 

"I did make a request for assistance, and the Attorney General’s Office did accept it. Essentially, this case will be tried by one of the attorneys in that office and myself. But essentially, they are going to prosecute the case.”   

Morris explained how Barton County, which has a relatively small population, can benefit from the help the Attorney General can provide in a homicide case.  

“If you live in one of the bigger cities, they jot down X number of homicides a year, and the resources to investigate, the resources to prosecute are in the budget,” Morris said. “Fortunately, we don’t have a lot. We have enough, but they don’t happen frequently enough that they are essentially a part of our budget.

From my point of view, the Attorney General’s Office wants to be a resource for smaller counties. The attorneys there have done it before and they’ve done it a lot and they’re rather good at it.”    

Morris said charges in the case were filed on Wednesday evening within 48 hours of the arrest.