Day 5 of Fredrick Scott trial: Judge denies defense's motion for mistrial

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The defense for Fredrick Scott, the alleged Indian Creek Trail serial killer, made a motion for a mistrial on Thursday.

This happened without the jury present.

I was in court as the defense made the motion over an interaction between a deputy and two jurors.

Because this case has drawn larger crowds, mostly family members of the six victims, security has been increased in and outside the courtroom.

Apparently, two jurors were in the hallway while Scott was being escorted out to a separate elevator for inmates. Most days our crew has been there, security has been present and has appeared to clear the hallway before bringing out the defendant.

In this case, the deputy asked two jurors to wait inside a room to clear the hallway for a moment till Scott passed; then the deputy motioned they were cleared to proceed.

Although the attorneys and judges discussed this in hushed voices, I heard the defense attorney tell the judge this action made his client look "dangerous" to the jurors.

The judge denied the motion for a mistrial.

Scott is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting deaths of six people in 2016 and 2017.

He's pleaded not guilty.

As part of Day 5's testimony, much of the focus was on admitting various items of evidence from video surveillance cameras and from the victims' autopsies.

One interesting note from a former member of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department was that they went undercover to install trail cameras on the Indian Creek Trail.

After the murder of the fourth victim, Mike Darby, police realized they were looking at a pattern, publicly sharing they believed all of the deaths were related. What they didn't share publicly was that they installed trail cameras, similar to what hunters might use, along trees lining the trail.

To do this covertly, they dressed up as park district employees and took a cart filled with gear to appear as though they were working. One worker would grab a chainsaw, the other would grab a leaf blower, and they would block off a section of trail as if they were working. While they were serving as lookouts, the third undercover officer would climb a ladder and install a hidden camera.

It's unclear if any of those cameras yielded any results.

Three to four weeks after they placed those cameras, the Indian Creek Trail experienced significant flooding, and the trail was inaccessible for a time.

The fifth and sixth murders occurred elsewhere.

KSHB 41's previous trial coverage

Day 1: Jury hears opening statements in trial of accused serial killer Fredrick Scott
Day 2: Closer look at murders, evidence in case
Day 3: Testimony on death of Michael Darby
Day 4: Video and iced tea bottle led to alleged Indian Creek Trail serial killer's arrest

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