Jury selection began last week for Levi King, a McDonald County resident accused of killing three members of a Texas family, including a pregnant woman.
According to Amarillo.com, 166 people were screened to serve on juries for upcoming trials in Lubbock County, Texas, where King’s trial was transferred last month on a change of venue from Gray County. Some will be asked to serve on King’s panel. A court official said the process could take several weeks. King faces the death penalty in the case.
In April 2008, King pleaded guilty to killing two rural McDonald County residents: retired restauranteur Orlie McCool, 70, and his 47-year-old former daughter-in-law, Dawn Burr McCool, on Sept. 29, 2005. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole.
King was extradited to Texas in July 2008 to stand trial in the murders of Brian Conrad, 31; his wife, Michell, 35, who was pregnant; and her 14-year-old son, Zach Doan. Their bodies were found shot to death on Sept. 30, 2005, after an early-morning 911 call made by the woman’s 10-year-old daughter. The Conrads lived 13 miles south of Pampa, Texas, on Highway 70 and 10 miles north of Interstate 40 in the Texas Panhandle. Authorities suspect King traveled on I-40 on his way to the Mexican border.
At about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 30, 2005, agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency arrested King after noticing a red 1995 Dodge Dakota pickup being driven erratically. The truck was determined to belong to Orlie McCool.
A search of the truck at the time of King’s arrest revealed four loaded weapons, several with rounds in the chambers. Three of the guns were taken from the home of King’s father, including a 9 mm pistol, an AK-47 and a Russian 6 mm sniper rifle. Also in the car was a .38 caliber handgun taken from the McCools’ home.
