Gateway

Issue date: 8/12/08 Section: News

Kyle Bormann [Click to enlarge]

Statements made by a man now in police custody will be allowed, a Douglas County judge ruled. The man, Kyle Bormann of Omaha, was arrested after driving through the scene where 21-year-old UNO student Brittany Williams was fatally shot.

A hearing on July 7 brought five Omaha police officers and a homicide detective to the stand to give testimony regarding severally possibly racially motivated statements.

Bormann made while in custody. Williams had been in the drive-through lane of a Kentucky Fried Chicken located at 30th and Craig Streets when she was shot once in the head, from at least 100 yards away, investigators said.

After driving through police tape and failing to stop for officers, Bormann was apprehended after a short foot chase. He was seen exiting his vehicle with a long rifle, before throwing it to the ground.

Bormann's defense attorney, public defender Tom Reilly, asserted that Bormann had been questioned illegally, not informed of his rights and that the statements should not be allowed as evidence when his trial begins. Bormann has been charged with use of a firearm and first-degree murder.

Judge Gerald Moran ruled on Aug. 1 that the statements would be allowed, and could be the racially motivating factor that could put the death penalty on the table, if convicted.

Moran ruled that Bormann had given his statements willingly and had not been coerced.

Officers had testified to telling Bormann to be quiet as he sat in the cruiser. Moran said that, because Bormann initiated the exchange, his statements would be admissible when the trial begins Sept. 15.

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