European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 the stars and stripes saturday May 21,1994soldier in Elora s slaying from Page 1 August. Officials said Smith who was taken into custody wednesday by German and military investigators acted alone in the crime. Authorities expected to Transfer him from German to . Custody Friday afternoon and take him to the army a confinement facility in Mannheim it. Col. Quentin Banks v corps spokesman said at a news conference Friday. A a. A a a /. Elora disappeared Between 1 . And 4 . From her family a fourth floor military apartment on Babenhausen Cavern. Her mutilated and sexually abused body was found several hours later beside a water filled Quarry about a Quarter mile from her weeks investigators began taking blood samples from Babenhausen residents Ana soldiers for what scientists Call Dan sampling. Dan a detox ribonucleic acid a is the genetic code for living things and is used in Foren for identification. Smith who As the unit armorer was in charge of its weapons was identified through the testing said Volkmar Kallenbach spokesman for the Darmstadt District attorneys office. Smiths blood was among that of nearly 1,900 people tested Kallenbach said. Officials did not say when Smith gave his Sample or when they pinpointed him As a suspect. But they said it took so Long to identify him because the state criminal Laboratory in Wiesbaden that was doing the testing was overloaded with work in the Case. Officials said they have other evidence linking Smith to the crime but they did not give details. A / they refused to give a motive or say How Elora fell into Smith s hands. They also would not say whether Smith confessed. It was not Clear Friday if army officials would seek the death penalty in a court martial. It. Col. Lawrence Rouse Nead Legal official for the 32nd army air defense come said the uniform code of military Justice allows the death penalty in certain cases As murder. However German Law prohibits courts from yielding jurisdiction in cases when a suspect might face the death penalty.7/ Rouse said Smith would Likely be court Martiale in Germany. V a. Kallenbach said he was a convinced that we could come to an agreement a with american authorities about seeking the death penalty. German officials would not provide details of the Case often deferring questions to army officials who declined to comment because of concern for Smiths right to a fair a trial. A a. 7 a 7 a a / a a a 7/ a 7 a a Kallenbach said Elora a father sgt. Brent Mckemy originally had been under suspicion but he no longer is a suspect. / 7 a Quot. V a 7 v7 # however Wolfgang Kasten head of the capital crimes a amps Dav Casoy it col. Lawrence Rouse from leftist. Col. Quentin Banks and Volkmar a news conference in Darmstadt Germany on Friday to announce i a. A a division of the Darmstadt police said a we were sure from the beginning that the perpetrator was from the Small Circle of friends and Banks the v corps spokesman refused to say if Smith was a family Friend of Elora a parents Brent and Penny Mckemy. In a Telephone interview with the stars and stripes on Friday Brent Mckemy said he did not know Smith. He said that if Smith is convicted he should get the death penalty. A a what he has done to our daughter at her age nothing that she could have done to provoke him. And he took her life a Mckemy said from his Home in fort Bragg . A because of that he deserves the death penalty. If he gets that that a not Good Mckemy smother Betty Grant also said Elora s killer should receive severe punishment. A the death penalty is too Good for him Quot she said in a Telephone interview from her Home in Orlando Fla. She expressed concern that Germany forbids the death penalty. Y a�=�.�. A Jim Grant Mckemy a father said he is relieved someone has been charged with killing his granddaughter. A a it a about time Isnit it a he said of the eight month investigation. The Mckeys and the Grants have said the army criminal investigation come commonly called Cid has not provided them with information about the investigation of Elora a death. The charges against Smith Are what the military Calls a a preferred charges a those charges that the army wants to bring against Smith. Rouse the . Legal officer said Smith faces an article 32 investigation named after the article under the uniform code of military Justice that governs special investigations. The results of that investigation will be provided to the 32nd Aad com commander who As the general court martial convening authority will give the final determination As to what charges will actually be levied against Smith. Kasten of the Darmstadt police would not give details of the evidence against Smith except to say the Dan testing provided the break needed. Rouse declined to say Friday if the my Kemyss Home in Babenhausen is still sealed As a crime scene. However neighbors said no one is living in the Home. Mckemy said he has not received his household belongings. 7.7- 7-.v a a it a not Over yet but its beginning to get Over a he a said. A a / a -.��?�7. A a a / v a contributing to this report staff writer Norm Zeigler in Darmstadt brutal slaying of Little Elora massive Here is a chronology in the investigation of the death of Elora Mckemy a sept. 15, 1993 her beaten and sexually mutilated body was found lying next to the Railroad tracks beside a Quarry about a Quarter mile from her family a Home on Babenhausen Cavern. Officials did not know How she got out of the apartment. A sept. 22 officials offered a Reward for information into Elora a death. 7 7 a october German and army officials began taking blood samples for Dan testing in Hopes of Matching a Sample with evidence found in Elora. Dan a detox ribonucleic acid a is the genetic code for living things and varies with each individual. A oct 3 Elora was buried at Sunset memorial Park cemetery in Bennettsville s.c., her mothers stateside Hometown. A nov. 2 officials collected More than 1,500 blood samples from German civilians and . Soldiers living in the area. One Fri forensic scientist said this testing represented one of the largest groups of people Ever tested for a single Case involving a . Investigation. A nov. 15 Elora a father sgt. Brent Mckemy said he was frustrated by the Lack of news from investigators. A nov. 23 the Babenhausen army clinic dedicated a children a Corner to Elora. A dec. 10 investigators questioned again an undisclosed number of soldiers who did not give blood samples for Dan testing. A May 1994 scientists at the state criminal Laboratory in Wiesbaden Germany matched a blood Sample with body fluid samples taken from Elora a body. They identified that blood Sample As being from spec. Patrick Mcdonald Smith 22, of Babenhausen police said. Officials said they also linked other evidence to Smith but refused to say what it was a May 18 German and army investigators brought Smith in for questioning. A May 19 army officials charged Smith with murder rape sodomy and kidnapping. A May 20 germans issued an arrest order for Smith. He was scheduled for Transfer to . Custody and the army s confinement facility in Mannheim Germany. Elora from Page 1 German police announced the arrest Friday. Several residents said they overheard military police discussing the Case in the Babenhausen shop Pette thursday. By the time the germans were discussing the Case with reporters in Darmstadt soldiers at Babenhausen had been warned by their commanders not to talk about the building where sgt. Brent me Kemy lived with his daughter Elora and his wife Penny until the girls death residents were quiet. Their doors were shut to strangers and they spoke Only anonymously. One resident said the time had come to recover and reconcile. A i May Call the Mckeys a she said. A but ill wait for a time. They need time to accept that its since civilian contractors discovered Elora a mutilated body near the Cavern on sept. 15, a kind of protective cocoon has formed around the Community cemented by fear that army and German investigators would not find the killer. A i realized How much this had affected us when i left school one Day a said elementary school principal Ida Rhodes. A when the parents picked up the children they took them to the Park and sat there watching them until the kids were finished playing. Its unusual that they would watch the children like spec. Hollis Champlain was one of the soldiers who helped search for Elora a body the Day she was reported missing. As a resident of the same building the girl lived in the crime hit particularly close to Home. A i was furious when i found out Elora was dead a Champlain said. A i was angry that someone could do something so brutal. Its not fair to the 6irl�?� 7 7 Quot. / / ,. A Champlain Wasny to surprised that a Soldier is accused of the crime. A a we re different in America a Champlain said. A a this was horrible but not particularly surprising. It does no to really Shock me that an american did but for some residents the arrest Means they can get Back to Normal lives. Maria Farrell for example said she was looking Forward to having her husband sleep in the couples bedroom again. A after it the slaying happened he took to sleeping in the boys room so they be scared a Farrell said. A the Hasni to really slept in our bed in about nine months. Now he can come Back to in
