Scott Cheever was sentenced to death by the State Of Kansas for the murder of a police officer
According to court documents Sheriff Matthew Samuels was going to Scott Cheever residence to serve an arrest warrant. When the Sheriff arrived he would be fatally shot
Scott Cheever would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Scott Cheever Photos
Scott Cheever FAQ
Where Is Scott Cheever now
Scott Cheever is incarcerated at El Dorado Correctional Facility
When Is Scott Cheever Execution
Scott Cheever execution has not been scheduled
Scott Cheever Case
On January 19, 2005, Scott Cheever shot and killed Greenwood County Sheriff Matthew Samuels at Darrell and Belinda Coopers’ residence near Hilltop, Kansas. Samuels, acting on a tip, had gone to the Coopers’ residence, along with Deputy Michael Mullins and Detective Tom Harm, to attempt to serve an outstanding warrant for Cheever’s arrest. Cheever, along with the Coopers, Matt Denney, and Billy Gene Nowell, had been cooking and ingesting methamphetamine in the early morning hours prior to Samuels’ arrival. In the ensuing attempts to remove the wounded Samuels from the residence and arrest Cheever, Cheever also shot at Mullins, Harm, and two state highway patrol troopers, Robert Keener and Travis Stoppel.
At trial, the facts surrounding the shootings were recounted by several witnesses including the Coopers, the surviving law enforcement officers, and by Cheever himself. There was little discrepancy in the pictures painted by the various accounts.
Shortly before Samuels, Mullins, and Harm arrived at the Coopers, Belinda had received a telephone call informing her that the police were on their way to the house to look for Scott Cheever. Belinda told Cheever the police were coming and asked him to get his stuff together and leave, but Cheever’s car had a flat tire.
When Samuels arrived at the Cooper’s house, Cheever and Denny were hiding in an upstairs bedroom. Cheever had two guns with him—a .44 caliber Ruger revolver and a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol. As he hid upstairs, Cheever heard the officers pull up to the house and heard Darrell yell that the cops were there and that he was going to tell them Cheever was not there. Cheever also heard Darrell answer the door and tell Samuels Cheever was not there. Cheever heard Darrell agree to allow Samuels inside to look around.
Cheever heard Samuels calling out his name as he looked for Cheever on the first floor. The doorway to the upstairs had a piece of carpet covering it and Samuels asked Belinda where the doorway led. Belinda said it went upstairs. Samuels pulled the carpet back and yelled for Cheever. Cheever looked over at Denny and told him, “Don’t move, don’t make a sound, just stay right where you are.” Samuels then went through the doorway to go upstairs.
Cheever heard Samuels’ steps on the stairs. Cheever had the loaded and cocked .44 in his hand when he stepped out of the bedroom and looked down the stairway. Cheever saw Samuels coming up the stairs. Cheever pointed his gun and shot Samuels. Cheever then stepped back into the bedroom and told Denny not to go out of the window because they would shoot him. Cheever returned to the stair railing, looked down the stairs, saw Samuels, and shot him again. Cheever stepped back into the bedroom and saw that Denny had left through the window. Cheever then shot at Mullins and Harm as they tried to get the wounded Samuels out of the stairwell. Later, he shot at Keener and Stoppel, who were part of the SWAT team that entered the house to arrest Cheever.
Cheever asserted a voluntary intoxication defense, based on the theory that methamphetamine use had rendered him incapable of forming the necessary premeditation to support the murder and attempted murder charges. Cheever’s evidence in support of his defense consisted of his own testimony and the testimony of his expert witness, Dr. Roswell Lee Evans, Jr., a doctor of pharmacy with a specialty in psychiatric pharmacy.
The jury found Cheever guilty on all counts as charged. At the penalty phase, the jury unanimously found beyond a reasonable doubt that the three alleged aggravating circumstances had been proven to exist and that they were not outweighed by any mitigating circumstances found to exist and therefore sentenced Cheever to death. The trial court subsequently accepted the jury’s verdict and imposed a sentence of death.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ks-supreme-court/1610344.html
