Mar 23, 2009 6:46 pm US/Central
Defense: Death Was Accidental In Craigslist Murder
SHAKOPEE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Michael Anderson, 20, is accused of placing a phony Craigslist ad for a babysitter and then killing Katherine Olson when she came to his parents' house in October 2007. (File)
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According to the Savage Police Department, the body of 24-year-old Katherine Ann Olson was found in the trunk of her car in Burnville's Kramer Nature Preserve around 10 p.m. Friday.
Family Submitted Photo
Prosecutors and the defense presented their opening statements on Monday in the Craigslist murder trial.
Katherine Olson, 24, of Minneapolis answered an online ad for a babysitter in Savage. Michael Anderson, 20, is accused of placing the phony ad and then killing Olson when she came to his parents' house in October 2007.
What makes this case unusual is that the defense and prosecution agree that Anderson killed Olson. But the defense is arguing the death was an accident.
The defense for Anderson said he placed a babysitting ad because he wanted to meet women. The defense attorney called his client "a dumb kid, who never held a girl's hand." The defense will also argue that Anderson never planned to kill Olson.
"That's the prosecution's version of the facts about an incident that occurred with no other witnesses, is not the only reasonable version of the facts," said defense attorney Alan Margoles.
However, prosecutors say Anderson planned the murder and later boasted about it.
Prosecutors say Anderson told another jail inmate, "I'm famous too. I'm the Craigslist murderer." They said he told another inmate that he killed Olson because, "I wanted to know what it felt like."
Olson's family members, including her brothers and sisters, cried as the graphic autopsy pictures of Olson were shown in court.
Olson's mother, Nancy, took the stand testifying that her daughter was a talented actress, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Olaf and she was planning to go to graduate school when she was murdered.
What the defense is hoping for is a conviction on second- or third-degree murder, which is big difference. If Anderson is convicted of first-degree murder, the sentence is life without parole.
If he's convicted of second-degree murder he could serve as little as 26 years and a third-degree murder conviction means he could serve as little as 8 1/2 years.
The prosecution is looking for a first-degree conviction.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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