Tulsa World: Kastner is ordered to trial in wife's death

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Saturday, November 21, 2009 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Kastner is ordered to trial in wife's death

ACCUSED
John Kastner: Investigators say he changed his story many times after his wife was killed in their home.

By BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer
Published: 8/30/2008 2:10 AM
Last Modified: 8/30/2008 2:15 AM

John Robert Kastner appeared "very unemotional" when interviewed on the morning his wife was fatally shot at their Tulsa home, an investigator said Friday.

When providing statements at a hospital on June 25 and again at a police station, Kastner did not ask for an update on how the investigation into the killing was progressing, Detective Jeff Felton testified at a preliminary hearing.

Kastner blamed the killing on an intruder, but his description presented a "changing picture of the intruder," the detective said.

Felton was the final witness at a two-day hearing that started Monday.

Tulsa County Special Judge Cliff Smith ordered Kastner, a former Webster High School teacher, held for trial on a first-degree murder charge.

Prosecutors say Kastner, 50, killed his wife, former Oklahoma Supreme Court attorney Lori Moon Kastner, on June 25 at their home in the 3800 block of South Union Avenue.

Lori Kastner, 44, was found dead in bed at their home. Her husband continues to maintain that he is innocent, a defense attorney said.

John Kastner was under financial pressure as a result of promises he made to family members, friends and co-workers, according to a police affidavit filed June 27.

The affidavit against Kastner alleges a pattern of lying, including that he was a member of the Israeli special forces and had access to millions of dollars from an Israeli charitable organization, which police have said does not exist.

In court Friday, Assistant

Public Defender Marny Hill maintained that prosecutors did not demonstrate "that he (Kastner) is the one who fired the fatal shots."

For Kastner, "it wasn't going to help anything" and he wasn't going to solve any problems by "putting two bullets into his wife's head," Hill said.

First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond said Kastner engaged in "lies and deception" and that the "day of truth" had arrived when "everyone was going to find out he was a fraud."

Felton said Kastner perceived himself as "a legend at Webster," popular with the students and "extremely good at what he did."

The detective said Kastner told him he awakened to find "a male subject at the foot of his bed," holding Kastner's .22-caliber revolver.

Kastner said the intruder fired two shots into his sleeping wife and that he was then shot in the hand during a struggle with the intruder, Felton said.

During a subsequent statement, Kastner said he did not actually see the first shot fired, and he said his wife started to get out of bed before the intruder pushed her down and fired another shot, Felton testified.

The gun was found on the dining room table with several strands of hair attached to its barrel.

"I don't think this evidence would still be on the barrel if the gun had been involved in any type of struggle," Felton testified.

Drummond said there was "absolutely no evidence of a struggle."

Bill Braun 581-8455
bill.braun@tulsaworld.com By BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Show: Most Recent Comment First

Add your comment

1 comments have been made on this story so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Report Comment

The Lunch Lady, Tulsa (8/30/2008 7:51:45 AM)

I would like to make one request of the Tulsa World. Each time John Kastner's photo is posted to an article, also please post a photo of his wife. Her image should always be front and center. This was a lovely lady, educated, intelligent, a nice person, and the mother of this man's children. More importantly, the one person who should have protected her committed the ultimate betrayal of the unimaginable act of taking her life as she slept. To me, his image is of little consequence. For the children's sake, it would be a gift if this story were not true, but that faint hope, with the evidence presented, seems impossible.

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.