Date set for murder trial

December 30, 2005

MARY AMES/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -A Jan. 3 trial date was set Tuesday for a Wasilla man accused of strangling his live-in girlfriend and their 7-week-old son.

Christopher Kevan, 24, appeared Tuesday morning in Palmer Superior Court for a pretrial conference. He faces two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of second-degree murder, a count of first-degree assault and a count of second-degree assault for the deaths of Brandie Burns, 26, and their infant son, Ashton.

Assistant Public Defender Diane Foster told the family outside of court that the date might not hold.

&#8220”With serious charges, you almost never go to trial in 120 days,” Foster said. &#8220There's too much information to cover.”

Kevan appeared relaxed, chatting and joking with a few family members, as he waited for Judge Beverly Cutler to set the trial date in his case.

Foster, during the hearing, discussed the amount of evidence turned in to her office.

&#8220I received almost 400 pages of discovery,” Foster said. &#8220The police reports are there, but are labeled ‘draft' and it's difficult to match the tapes and CDs with the evidence. We have to rely on the state to clarify.”

Assistant District Attorney Richard Payne told Kevan's family that the state and defense would discuss an offer of a plea, but that it wasn't realistic to assume they would reach an agreement.

Kevan was arrested Oct. 26 after he asked his father to come over to the Bogard Road apartment he shared with Burns and showed him the bodies of Burns and baby Ashton, according to charging documents.

Kevan told investigators he and Burns had argued, he started drinking and he strangled her and then strangled the baby the night before the documents said.

Kevan has twice admitted to the murders in open court.

At his Oct. 27 arraignment before District Court Judge William Estelle, Kevan declined appointed counsel, saying there was no point in appointing an attorney.

&#8220It doesn't matter,” Kevan told the court. &#8220I did it.”

The following day, at Kevan's pre-indictment hearing, Palmer District Magistrate David L. Zwink asked if Kevan wanted a court-appointed attorney, or if he had retained the attorney who represented him on charges of assault and weapons misconduct in 2003.

&#8220Uh, no. I don't see the point of that,” Kevan responded. &#8220I really don't care what you do.”

Zwink gave Kevan a week to think about the charges and to talk with Foster.

Kevan told his family Tuesday that he had gotten a letter from his grandmother, but had been moving around so much, from one jail to another, that he didn't get the package she sent.

Kevan, whose hair and whiskers are about a quarter-inch long, told the family he needed money on his books so he could buy shampoo.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.