Three charged in 2005 murder of woman in Bonner Springs

As another "neighbor", I understand that this is a free public post and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so it's kind of ridiculous to tell someone to "butt out". This is not a private post for just John's family, but for the community as well.
The kid gave me the creeps. He bothered my daughter countless times, wanting to date her and she wanted nothing to do with him and did not respond to him in any way and he refused to leave her alone. Totally uncalled for and we did not appreciate it one bit. She never even spoke to him or looked his way and he consistently stalked her. I won't be surprised at all if he turns out to be guilty.
It made my skin crawl to find out he is a convicted sexual offender and now facing murder charges as well.
I do feel sorry for everyone involved in this horrific case.

OH MY GOD A SEX OFFENDER PUT HIM JAIL AND THROW AWAY THE KEY. Did you know there is a city councilman in a small city that is the same type of offender sex with a WILLING partner that was underage. heck this kid could be come president. as for the parents knowing this child was headed for trouble THE PARENTS DID NOT KNOW AND UNTRIL A JURY TELLS THEM SO OUR PARENTS STILL WILL NOT KNOW

As a sex offender John was allowed to not be jailed, all John had to do was stay up with the offender registration laws. Good grief Sis why do you make such comments "OH MY GOD A SEX OFFENDER PUT HIM JAIL AND THROW AWAY THE KEY". and what are you trying to say in your last sentence anyway???

Sis,,,John had some plem. hearing this week didnt he?? How did that end up anyway?? I assume you were there, or have you talked to your parents for an update??

Lets all pray
Dear Jesus you know who did this awlful thing. Please let the truth come out so all Of these friends and famalies can have peace. Human nature is to hate and I know you understand. Lets let it stop here. AMEN

neighbor- teacher- pastor wrote:

Lets all pray
Dear Jesus you know who did this awlful thing. Please let the truth come out so all Of these friends and famalies can have peace. Human nature is to hate and I know you understand. Lets let it stop here. AMEN

Praying is good for the ACLU lovers and sheeple's in our country, but it will do no good for the real world as it is today. Look what a waste Fred Phelps is with his bible beating rhetoric and the dumb stuff he does.

Kansas now has legal carrying of guns with a permit (ccw) and it is too bad this lady was not armed to defend herself against the villians who took her life with no mercy on her at all. Recent events at Omaha and Va. Tec,, both places were posted as no carry areas and look what happened to those people. Myself,,,I carry every where I go 24/7, Walmart in Bonner/McDonalds, all the same place's the villians have been who killed this poor lady. I have even shopped in Dollar General armed,,,too dang bad I was not in there when she was attacked. She would of had Xmas with her family and at least 2 villians would be 6 feet under.

There are appx 9 thousand CCW permits in kansas and we need about 3x's that amount,,too bad people seem to be in a feel safe mode all the time cuz it is not really reality.

Swift justice would be good also, by that I mean if the accused is convicted they get maybe one appeal and thats it and within a short time the accused is put to death, preferably in PUBLIC.

Well 2dogs, you understand far better than most of these lump-throated, whiney, cum-bah-lah liberal piss-ants that are a parasite on society causing erosion of common sense and the free, unchecked violence upon the innocent by weirdos, coddled and harbored by them under the umbrella of liberal-rignts! I've carried for 50 years, had to pull 3 times. Never had to kill anyone......YET. Ran territories from S. Leawood (snobtown) into kc,mo. getto & kc,ks. quindaro area. No problem comming out & returning home. If more people would just say Psssssss on the libs.rules-- self def. for self & family above all else, we wouldn't have the problem in the streets that we do now. Why didn't we have gangs running neighborhoods 30 yrs. ago? Cause we beat the crap out of the punks before they could multiply. Keep up the good work!

dat iz grodi to do dat

french fries!!!!!!!!!!

I just read everyones post and alot of you are just plain stupid. None of you know John, his history, his parents or any of his family. We are the best there is in Bonner. Now everyone else just kiss up to our corrupt police department- ask the wives!- Sorry the woman is dead- get over it and leave the family alone and blame the stupid retarded girl who can't keep a story straight even if her life depended on it. and you who said John bothered your daughter--o sure he did.!! LIAR!!!

JoAnna: What type of trailer do you have and how much crack do you use a week? Do you work for the money to buy it or just trade what's left of your body? Have all of your teeth turned & fallen out yet? You damn dumb tramp, go try to sell a murderer some place else. This community aint' buyin!!!

Fourth person charged, pleads in Bonner Springs homicide
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Originally published 01:15 p.m., March 18, 2008
Updated 01:15 p.m., March 18, 2008
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A fourth person has been charged and pleaded guilty in connection with the death of Robin K. Bell, 44, of Tonganoxie, a Dollar General store manager who was beaten and murdered during a 2005 robbery at the store in Bonner Springs.

Bell was the stepmother of Ashlie Marx-Bell of Emporia and Erin Bell of Madison and the wife of the young women’s father, Don Bell of Tonganoxie.

Yvette Russell was charged last month with aiding in a felony, according to Sheryl Lidtke, Wyandotte County deputy district attorney.

“She waived her preliminary (hearing) and she pled guilty last Friday, as charged, to aiding a felon,” Lidtke said.

Yvette Russell’s sentencing was set for 9:15 a.m. April 18.

In late December, hearings were held for three others who were charged in conjunction with the murder of Bell, 44.

Robert M. Haberlein, 19, of Kansas City and John W. Backus, 20, of Bonner Springs, were bound over for trial on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery in conjunction with Bell’s death.

A third person, Amber M. Russell of Lenexa, who was 15 at the time of the incident, was charged in juvenile court with the same counts.

Haberlein, then 17, also had been charged in juvenile court. Because of his violent juvenile record, however, Haberlein later was charged as an adult.

All three were bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing in Wyandotte County District Court.

Lidtke said that she could not comment on whether Yvette Russell and Amber Russell were related.

“I can’t comment on any of the investigation,” Lidtke said.

“The aiding a felon is a Level 8 felony and in Kansas, on the sentencing grid, if somebody is convicted of that crime, with her ... lack of criminal history, they will be looking at presumptive probation,” she said.

A presentence investigation or other information, however, could affect the sentencing.

“I can’t predict what a judge will do,” Lidtke said.

Comments

hey im amber's little brother and i think that john and amber are inosinet till proven guilty.i know for a matter of fact that it was probably robert who planned all this shit in the first place.i think amber and john were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.see john used to date my sister when we lived in bonner and he was a nice guy and i loved him as a brotherbut when robert came into the picture with my sister he was nothing but a dick to me and my family.so well this goes to the bell family we are so sorry for what happend to your family and we mean it.

im from leneza kansas

im from lenexa kansas

thank you Joshua for the kind words about John. Even if he was at the wrong place at the wrong time it still puts Amber and John there. They should have done something different,

family members have told me background everyone makes there decision yes a bad about him and yes he deserves what he gets but hey can change and find god if he chooses if not thats his choice

The idea that John planned this- extremely unlikely.
The idea that John could have somehow been involved- somewhat likely.
The idea that someone just threw his name into the mix to cast the blame on an easy target- extremely LIKELY.

John has been extremely unfortunate, and he has made some really bad choices. He has a pretty low IQ and has some bad friends to look to for his examples. His bad choices have involved dating girls who were 2-4 years younger than him, who ended up charging him with something. If he was really that creepy, why did they choose to date him?

I grew up with John, and I too have seen him act gently with his little nieces. I have also heard him brag about things he might or might not have done in social gatherings where it's really not acceptable to talk like that. He just does not understand things like social cues, and I can easily imagine him FALSELY telling someone that he committed a crime to show off. I could see him just not understanding the consequences.

In high school, we watched a documentary on the West Memphis 3. They were three (most likely innocent) guys who all got either life-term or death sentences, primarily because one guy with a severely low IQ confessed to a crime after hours of semi-torturous interviews. We watched this film and I thought to myself, "gee, John is the type of guy who could easily have something like that happen to him." Then six months later, the nightmare became a reality.

I pray that John was not involved, and I pray that if he gets convicted, he gets something better than a life in a cell. John has always needed more than he was able to get. His biological parents both had mental retardation, and John was not able to find something that he could do that he could really be proud of. He had a hard time graduating from High School and disliked learning because he knew the things he struggled with were a breeze to others.

If he was really involved, he will need to serve his time, but I'm not willing to give up on him yet. I kinda feel like the real killer is still out there, but since I'm not exactly omniscient, I'm going to go with the concept of proving him guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. I really don't think this case can possibly get to the point of "beyond a shadow of a doubt". With no physical evidence, all we have to go on is a couple of shady testimonies.

The victim and her family deserve justice, but let's not try to make even more victims by making blind accusations. Sometimes we don't get the justice we need here on earth. Sometimes we just need to mourn our losses, and wait for a future with our Maker in Heaven. Life will never be perfect on earth. Our lives will be filled with sorrow and injustice. I just hope and pray that God's perfect (and sometimes unpredictable) will can be done in this matter and it is my desire (I can't speak for God) that only the guilty will be convicted.

This isn't about political opinions or family battles. This is about a girl who lost her life and some kids with a lot of problems who all need help, and the family that at the same time needs to see some sort of justice for their daughter. People tend to see only what they want to see. Some see a nuisance that's better off locked up. Others see a brother they love whom they've only seen good things from. Others see the unfairness of a woman murdered and what someone to pay. It's funny to me how so many throw around Jesus as if he is exclusively on their side. He's on everybody's side. My aunt is right and is one of the only balanced voices I've heard here... They should have done something different. I can love someone and admit that what they've participated in is wrong at the same time. We are all called to do that, and it is beyond disturbing when people use religious jargon to justify hatred or sin.

One of the fam wrote:

The idea that John planned this- extremely unlikely.
The idea that John could have somehow been involved- somewhat likely.
The idea that someone just threw his name into the mix to cast the blame on an easy target- extremely LIKELY.
John has been extremely unfortunate, and he has made some really bad choices. He has a pretty low IQ and has some bad friends to look to for his examples. His bad choices have involved dating girls who were 2-4 years younger than him, who ended up charging him with something. If he was really that creepy, why did they choose to date him?
I grew up with John, and I too have seen him act gently with his little nieces. I have also heard him brag about things he might or might not have done in social gatherings where it's really not acceptable to talk like that. He just does not understand things like social cues, and I can easily imagine him FALSELY telling someone that he committed a crime to show off. I could see him just not understanding the consequences.
In high school, we watched a documentary on the West Memphis 3. They were three (most likely innocent) guys who all got either life-term or death sentences, primarily because one guy with a severely low IQ confessed to a crime after hours of semi-torturous interviews. We watched this film and I thought to myself, "gee, John is the type of guy who could easily have something like that happen to him." Then six months later, the nightmare became a reality.
I pray that John was not involved, and I pray that if he gets convicted, he gets something better than a life in a cell. John has always needed more than he was able to get. His biological parents both had mental retardation, and John was not able to find something that he could do that he could really be proud of. He had a hard time graduating from High School and disliked learning because he knew the things he struggled with were a breeze to others.
If he was really involved, he will need to serve his time, but I'm not willing to give up on him yet. I kinda feel like the real killer is still out there, but since I'm not exactly omniscient, I'm going to go with the concept of proving him guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. I really don't think this case can possibly get to the point of "beyond a shadow of a doubt". With no physical evidence, all we have to go on is a couple of shady testimonies.
The victim and her family deserve justice, but let's not try to make even more victims by making blind accusations. Sometimes we don't get the justice we need here on earth. Sometimes we just need to mourn our losses, and wait for a future with our Maker in Heaven. Life will never be perfect on earth. Our lives will be filled with sorrow and injustice. I just hope and pray that God's perfect (and sometimes unpredictable) will can be done in this matter and it is my desire (I can't speak for God) that only the guilty will be convicted.

Well, now two sane voices for sure.