Sentencing puts lid on 15-year-old cold case

A 15-year-old cold case came to a close Tuesday morning with a sentence of a little more than 12 years being handed down to Larry Joe Gier, Jr., of Redfield, in Bourbon County District Court.

In January, he had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, burglary and theft in connection with the July 1998 disappearance of Gregory Hines, 48, of Fort Scott.

Hines' body has never been found.

The investigation into Hines' death had remained open for more than 14 years and was aided by DNA evidence, fingerprints and assistance from witnesses. Gier was arrested in Redfield on May 9, 2011, and originally charged with second-degree murder following a long investigation by the Fort Scott Police Department, Bourbon County Sheriff's Office, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Gier, who was 41 at the time, originally pleaded not guilty to the charge in March 2012 and the case was set to go to trial May 2012.

It is unclear why the case did not go to trial at that time. Phone calls to both attorneys were not returned to the Tribune.

A two-day preliminary hearing in January 2012 determined there was sufficent evidence to bind Gier over for trial. But then Gier pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, burglary and theft in January.

On Tuesday, Gier appeared before Bourbon County District Judge Mark Ward with his attorney, Geoffrey Clark. Representing the state were Assistant Attorney General Kristiane Bryant and Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson.

Gier, who was handcuffed and wearing an orange Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center jumpsuit, occasionally looked around the courtroom during the proceeding, which was attended by only a handful of citizens and local police officers.

Prior to handing down sentence, Ward said he had received and reviewed the pre-sentence investigation reports and the victim's impact statement, as well as Gier's criminal history. Neither the prosecution nor the defense presented any objections to these documents.

For the one count of involuntary manslaughter, Gier received an sentence of 128 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. On the burglary charge, Gier received 13 months in the KDOC. For the felony theft charge, Gier will serve seven months in the KDOC. Gier was sentenced under sentencing guidelines of 1998, when the crime took place.

Ward said the sentences will run consecutively and he ruled each charge as an aggravated offense, meaning Ward issued the maximum sentence for each charge he is allowed by law to hand out, given the defendant's pleas entered in the case.

"This is the maximum legal sentence I can possibly impose based on your convictions in this case," Ward told Gier during the proceeding.

Gier was also assessed court costs and various fees resulting from the case. After some discussion, it was also determined that Gier must pay $200 in restitution to the victim's family. Ward waived the court-appointed attorney fee on Tuesday.

Ward said he wants "to put some finality to this case" and not have to bring the victim's family back to court for a restitution hearing.

"I also don't want to mitigate the family's losses, which in this case is a financial loss," he said.

Ward said Gier will be going to prison "for a substantial amount of time" and the victim's family will likely not receive any money "for a long time" anyway.

Despite objection from the defense Tuesday, Ward ruled that Gier will have to register as an violent offender in Kansas. Clark argued that the law requiring criminals to register as violent offenders came after Gier's crime in 1998 and that it would force Gier to pay fees he cannot pay.

Ward said the current Violent Offender Registration Act in Kansas can be retroactive and applied in this case.

Gier will be required under state law to register as an offender for 15 years after the date of parole; to serve 36 months of post-release supervision; and will be eligible for 15 percent "good time credit," which would be time off his sentence for good behavior.

When Ward offered Gier his chance to speak Tuesday, Gier only said, "No, sir."

"I hope you think about what you did while you're in prison and what grief you caused the family," Ward told Gier.