Kornhardt v. United States
| Decision Date | 09 March 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 4:13-CV-214 CAS,4:13-CV-214 CAS |
| Parties | JAMES K. KORNHARDT, Movant, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri |
This matter is before the Court on federal prisoner James K. Kornhardt's motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside or correct sentence ("Motion to Vacate").1 The government has filed its response, and movant filed a traverse. This matter is fully briefed and ready for decision. For the following reasons, movant's motion is denied.
This case arises from a murder that took place in October 1992 of Danny Coleman. Karen and Danny Coleman were married in January 1973. Mr. Coleman had a life insurance policy through his employment, and a credit life insurance policy which, in the event of his death, wouldpay off the mortgage on his home. Karen Coleman was the beneficiary on both life insurance policies, the value of which exceeded $25,000.00.
Sometime around 1990, Karen Coleman told her long-time friend Michelle Nolan that she wanted to kill her husband, Danny Coleman. Ms. Nolan directed Ms. Coleman to speak with her husband Larry Nolan, who was a convicted criminal imprisoned in the state penitentiary. Karen Coleman and Michelle Nolan visited Larry Nolan in prison. Mr. Nolan asked Ms. Coleman about the amount of life insurance Mr. Coleman had, and he agreed to have Mr. Coleman killed in exchange for part of the life insurance proceeds.
Movant was Mr. Nolan's close friend and a fireman with the Mehlville Fire District in Saint Louis County, Missouri. Mr. Nolan arranged for Ms. Coleman and movant to meet and discuss killing Mr. Coleman. Ms. Coleman met movant in Forest Park, and she gave him $2,000. They discussed the murder, and Ms. Coleman agreed to pay $15,000 to movant and an unspecified amount to Mr. Nolan to kill her husband.
Larry Nolan also contacted a fellow prisoner, Mike Kempker, in order to obtain a silencer to be used in the murder. Mr. Kempker told Mr. Nolan that he could have one made for $1,000, to which Mr. Nolan agreed. Mike Kempker then contacted his father, Alfred Kempker, who agreed to handle the transaction outside the penitentiary. An acquaintance of the Kempkers, Ricky Farris, agreed to make the silencer for $200. The other $800 would go to Mike Kempker. Movant met Al Kemper outside the penitentiary to give him his gun so that he could have it fitted with a silencer. In the summer of 1992, after Ricky Ferris made the silencer and fitted it to movant's gun, Al Kempker again met movant at the prison parking lot and delivered the gun and silencer to him in exchange for$1,000.
Movant enlisted the help of his long-time friend Steven Mueller to help kill Mr. Coleman. Movant told Mr. Mueller that he would receive some money for helping with the murder. On October 22, 1992, movant, Mr. Mueller, and another individual, "Dozer," beat Mr. Coleman to death in Michelle Nolan's brother's house in south Saint Louis City. Danny Coleman's body was transported to a field in Franklin County, Missouri, and his body was ultimately found in a truck that had been set on fire.
The autopsy showed that Mr. Coleman had been beaten to death. Also, portions of the body were missing, including a large part of his chest and skull. The investigator on the scene performed a search of the area, and an opened but lightly used box of kitchen matches was found near the truck. Fingerprints were found on the cellophane wrapper of the matchbox. At the time, the police were unable to match the fingerprints to anyone. The police investigation into Mr. Coleman's death eventually went cold.
After Coleman's death, Karen Coleman received approximately $150,000 in life insurance proceeds. The first payment she received was on October 6, 1993, and her final payment was received on July 15, 1997. On Larry Nolan's advice, Karen Coleman withdrew sums of cash in increments of $5,000 at a time, to be provided to movant as payment. Karen Coleman recalled meeting movant in October 1994, in a K-Mart parking lot in south Saint Louis County to deliver the money in small denominations.
In 1999, an inmate, Michael Kempker, disclosed information about Mr. Coleman's death to law enforcement. Mr. Kempker was friends with Mr. Nolan, who died in 1997. Mr. Kempker, who was still in the penitentiary, told investigators that the people responsible for the murder were movant, Karen Coleman, and Michelle Nolan. Mr. Kempker further told the police that he thoughtthe murder took place in a house in south Saint Louis City, and that he had procured a silencer for the murder. Based on the information from Mr. Kempker, law enforcement questioned movant. They eventually matched his fingerprint to one that had been found on the box of matches. Movant and Ms. Coleman were indicted for Mr. Coleman's murder.
While movant was in jail, he called his wife, Dianne, and instructed her to have Mr. Mueller at home on the evening of December 19, 2008. Movant called that evening and gave Mr. Mueller instructions to dispose of evidence relating to the murder-for-hire of Danny Coleman. Movant had Mr. Mueller remove a gun that was hidden in the basement fireplace. He also instructed Mr. Mueller to go to the garage and dispose of a gun, silencer, and ammunition that movant had hidden there. This telephone conversation was recorded and reviewed by law enforcement. After removing the items in the garage, Mr. Mueller made a comment to Mrs. Kornhardt that he "couldn't believe Jim kept this shit all these years." Mr. Mueller told Mrs. Kornhardt that he was going to throw the items in the river.
After listening to the recording, an agent with the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives questioned Mr. Mueller about the items he removed from the house and garage and about Mr. Coleman's death. Mr. Mueller admitted to the agent that he had disposed of a silencer, gun, and ammunition. Mr. Mueller told the agent various stories about what had happened on the day that Mr. Coleman was killed, including one account of the murder where three men beat Mr. Coleman with bats and fighting sticks and then shot him three times. Mr. Mueller showed the agent where Mr. Coleman was killed and walked him through the crime scene while explaining what happened. Mr. Mueller admitted to the agent that he shot Mr. Coleman and had received $1,000 to $1,200 for his role in the murder. Mr. Mueller ultimately testified to a grand jurythat he had removed the silencer and gun from the house and garage after the phone conversation with movant.
On December 11, 2008, a federal grand jury sitting in St. Louis returned an indictment against Karen Coleman and movant charging them with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire (Count I) and murder-for-hire (Count II), both in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 1958. Attorneys Scott Rosenblum and Adam Fein entered their appearances on behalf of movant. The Federal Public Defenders Office was appointed to represent Karen Coleman.
On April 30, 2009, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Karen Coleman, movant, and Steven Mueller. A second superseding indictment was returned by the grand jury on June 25, 2009. In Count I, Karen Coleman, movant and Mr. Mueller were charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. In Count II, all three were charged with murder-for-hire. Count III charged movant with Obstruction of Justice, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(B). Count IV charged movant with Mail Fraud in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1342. Finally, Count V asserted forfeiture allegations against movant. Attorney Steven Stenger was appointed by the Court to represent Mr. Mueller.
Counsel for defendants filed a number of pretrial motions. Movant's counsel filed three motions to dismiss the indictment based on arguments that the indictment does not state an offense, it does not allege actual use of an interstate facility, and that it is barred by the statute of limitations. Movant's counsel also filed a motion to sever the defendants, to strike surplusage from the indictment, for disclosure of favorable, exculpatory, and impeaching evidence, to produce notes from law enforcement authorities, and to exclude statements from Karen Colemen and StevenMueller. A hearing were held before the Honorable Magistrate Judge David D. Noce on August 28, 2009. Magistrate Judge Noce issued his Reports and Recommendations on December 30, 2009 and January 6, 2010. Movant's counsel filed objections and a motion for reconsideration. The undersigned overruled movant's objections and sustained, adopted and incorporated the Reports and Recommendations of the Magistrate Judge.
Karen Coleman entered a plea of guilty on June 3, 2010. On August 31, 2010, she was sentenced to twenty years of incarceration in the Bureau of Prisons and five years of supervised release. Movant and Mr. Mueller elected to proceed to trial. Prior to trial, movant's counsel filed several motions in limine, including motions to exclude fingerprint testimony, evidence of alleged prior convictions or bad acts, jail house recordings, reference to lie detector tests, and reference to organized crime. Movant's counsel also filed a motion to reconsider the admission of statements by Karen Coleman and Steven Mueller.
Movant and Steven Mueller were tried together on June 7, 2010. After a six-day jury trial, movant and Mueller were convicted of murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire (Counts I and II). The jury also found movant guilty on the obstruction of justice charge (Count III).
Movant appeared before the undersigned for sentencing on September 23, 2010. The Court sentenced movant to a term of imprisonment of Life on Counts I and II, and a term of 240 months on Count III, all terms to be served concurrently.
Movant appealed his conviction and sentence to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Movant argued on appeal...
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