Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Kansas City, MO: Prosecutors: Husband ordered Bethany Deaton slaying

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
The man accused of killing a Grandview woman and then making it look like suicide appeared in court early Tuesday.
Micah Moore, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Bethany Deaton, 27. According to court documents. Moore told police that someone else ordered him to kill Deaton.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker confirmed Tuesday that Moore said that the person who gave the order was Bethany Deaton's husband, Tyler Deaton.
Baker said she did not think there were any promises made in exchange for the killing.
"I think you're talking about a potential murder-for-hire situation.  I don't know that any of that is present in this particular case," she said. She said it was too soon to say when or if additional charges would be filed.
KMBC 9's Cliff Judy tried to contact Tyler Deaton for comment on Tuesday, but the man who answered the door at his house said he wasn't there.
"I don't believe he would talk to you anyway," the man said.
Moore was silent and did not respond to questions as he was shuffled from a sheriff's car into the courthouse, but according to court documents, he's said a lot about Deaton's death.
According to those documents, Moore said he lived with the Deatons at their Grandview home. He said Tyler Deaton is the leader of an offshoot religious community that involves sex with multiple partners. Police said Moore told them that he and others drugged Bethany Deaton and sexually assaulted her and he killed her to keep her from telling anyone about it.
Bethany DeatonBethany Deaton's body was found in a van at Longview Lake two weeks ago. A note and a bottle of pills found near the body were intended to make her death appear to be a suicide.

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