Unruly defendant to wear leg shackles

September 29, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER -A Wasilla man who twice admitted in open court to killing his lover and their 7-week-old son continued to make bold statements at his murder trial this week.

Christopher A. Kevan, 25, faces charges of first- and second-degree murder for the deaths of Brandie Burns, 26, and their son, Ashton.

Attorneys spent Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday arguing whether Kevan should have his arms and legs shackled during the trial and selecting 14 jurors who said they could be impartial. Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler ruled Kevan would wear shackles on his legs during the trial that is expected to last about two more weeks.

After the names of potential jurors were printed in another newspaper, the attorneys had to dismiss those jurors and begin again Wednesday morning. They made their opening statements that afternoon.

Richard Payne, assistant district attorney, said Kevan admitted he was sober when he held Burns down on the couch, wrapped his hands around her throat and choked the life out of her. Kevan then strangled the baby with his bare hands, too, Payne said. Kevan told his uncle he didn't start drinking until after he had killed the pair, who shared his downstairs apartment off Bogard Road, he said.

Diane Foster, Kevan's public defender, told the jury the trial wouldn't be like suspenseful television shows. There wouldn't be a time when someone said they knew who the real killer was, Foster said.

Foster asked the jury to listen carefully to all the evidence and weigh it carefully against the two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder facing Kevan. If the evidence doesn't fit the charge, the jury would have to find Kevan not guilty, she said.

&#8220This was a tragedy that affected two families,” Foster said.

Kevan remained vocal and belligerent through witness testimony and attorney's questions, drawing attention to himself in spite of repeated admonitions from Judge Cutler.

&#8220Can you believe it?” Kevan said Wednesday. &#8220I didn't even graduate from high school, and I've got the whole f—ing state by the b—s.”

Cutler repeated almost every hour of the trial that she needed Kevan to remain quiet until it was his turn to speak. Cutler also reminded the jurors they must base their verdicts on evidence, not courtroom antics.

According to the upstairs tenant at the Bogard Road apartment, it probably took Burns about five minutes to die. One of her daughters was playing the trumpet, and the television was on, said Karla Theroux. She heard a scream that was a cross between a human and a goat, and went to different windows to see if someone was outside, and to try to find out where the scream was coming from.

&#8220I think it was her,” she said.

Payne showed photos of the crime scene late Thursday. Burns lay on her back in the couple's bed, with her right arm outstretched and her blond head tilted down toward Ashton, who was nestled by her side.

Kevan remained silent.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.