Shawnee County judge denies camera access for double murder hearing

TOPEKA (KSNT) – A Shawnee County judge has denied access for 27 News to have a camera at a hearing for the man accused of killing his sister and father and kidnapping his nephew.

Christopher Barnshaw was booked Saturday, Aug. 30 into Shawnee County Jail after prosecutors obtained a governor’s warrant to have him transferred from Illinois –  where he was arrested – back to Kansas.

Barnshaw is accused of killing Sean E. Thornton, 55, and Ashley T. Brown, 29, both of Topeka, and kidnapping two-year-old Zabe Mendez in July this year.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay charged Barnshaw with the following crimes:

• Two charges of murder in the first degree.
• Aggravated burglary of a dwelling.
• Aggravated endangering of a child.
• Kidnapping.

Topeka police were called around 9:50 a.m. on July 22 to a home in the 500 block of Wabash to conduct a welfare check. Officers found a man and woman dead, later identified as Thornton and Brown, and discovered a two-year-old child was missing.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issued an AMBER Alert for the child shortly after the deaths were discovered. The Mattoon Police Department (MPD) in Illinois later arrested Barnshaw for his alleged role in the Topeka killings and kidnapping of Mendez. Mendez was returned safely to his father.

Judge Brett Watson denied 27 News access to shoot video at a scheduling conference scheduled for the case on Thursday, Sept. 11. Kansas law allows individual judges to determine what equipment media outlets can use during hearings in their courtrooms.

27 News was also the first outlet to request a copy of the arrest affidavit in the case, to provide the public a better understanding of the circumstances of the crimes. Police did not release the cause of death or motive in the case. Watson has yet to decide how much, if any, of the affidavit to release.

On Tuesday, Sept. 2 Watson appointed a death penalty defense attorney to represent Barnshaw in the case.

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