Four years ago today, Adriaunna Horton was abducted and murdered.
Her accused killer, Bobby Dale Bourne, 38, Lockwood, is still awaiting trial as the judicial system moves at a glacial pace.
It will be close to another full year before Bourne's jury trial begins. It is scheduled to start Monday, August 6, 2018, in Barton County Circuit Court in Lamar. A Buchanan County jury will be brought in to hear the case.
The state is seeking the death penalty.
During a court hearing, prosecutors revealed that Bourne's motive for killing the 12-year-old was an affair his wife had with Adriaunna's father while Bourne was serving time for another crime.
Kidnapping and Murder
Adriaunna was playing in Hazel Park in Golden City with her two sisters when for some reason she climbed into Bourne's blue 1998 Ford Expedition, according to a probable cause statement from the Barton County Sheriff's Office.
The sisters told their grandfather, the authorities were called and the search began.
At 7:05 p.m. that evening, approximately two and a half hours after Adriaunna left with Bourne, Highway Patrol trooper Justin Leemasters spotted Bourne's vehicle on Mill Street in Golden City.
After the stop, Bourne denied taking Adriaunna and said he had no idea where she was.
After he was given his Miranda warning, he eventually admitted he had picked up Adriaunna, said she ran away from him and fell down and died as a result of the fall.
Bourne guided investigators to Adriaunna's body, which he left in a wooded area near Golden City.
The probable cause statement says there was evidence Adriaunna had been sexually assaulted. Bourne was initially charged with rape, but that charge was later dropped.
Bobby Bourne's Dark Past
Bourne is currently serving a 15-year sentence since kidnapping and murder are generally considered solid reasons to revoke someone's probation.
The following information about Bourne's past was published in the June 23, 2014 Turner Report and was never followed up on by any area media:
Evidence that Bourne was capable of this kind of violence can be found in an October 2012 probable cause statement filed by Lockwood Police Officer Ruth Cottingham.
It told of Bourne assaulting another young girl, who yelled at him to get off her after the two had an argument and he followed her into a bedroom. The girl's mother rushed to the room and was frightened by what she saw. Bourne, a man in his 30s, was hitting her daughter, who was lying on her back on the bed.
Shawnee Bench yelled at Bourne, her brother-in-law, to get off the girl. When he did not, she tried to grab his arm and pull him off, but he was too strong. Bourne grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a violent shove.
"Get out of my "f------g house," Bourne shouted.
Bourne's lengthy record, including arrests for domestic assault, unlawful use of a weapon, tampering, and driving while intoxicated, were enough to put him behind bars, but Officer Cottingham was also convinced by the savage nature of the incidents involved in that October 2012 arrest that Bobby Dale Bourne posed a threat to the community.
The assault on the Lockwood child occurred only a month after Bourne admitted in Polk County Circuit Court he had assaulted a law enforcement officer and had been intoxicated, violating the terms of his probation on a 2006 felony tampering charge.
A motion to revoke Bourne's probation and send him to prison for five years was filed, but no hearing was ever held. Polk County records show that during an October 1 hearing, Judge John Sims ruled that Bourne's probation would be continued with the same conditions.
Before the month was out, court records indicate, Bourne violated his probation two more times. Though there is no mention in the Polk County online records of what the violations were, it would appear that at least one of the violations occurred just one week after Judge Sims' decision when Bourne was charged with two counts of domestic assault.
The charges that Officer Cottingham filed against Bourne in Lockwood included one felony assault, one misdemeanor assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.
On Nov. 5, 2012, a warrant was issued for Bourne's arrest and his bond was set at $60,000. Three times revocation hearings were scheduled and three times they were postponed. In the middle of that period, Judge Sims retired, complicating the situation even more.
The motion to revoke Bourne's probation was withdrawn and on Feb. 8, the $60,000 bond was posted. His probation ended March 4, 2013.
Shortly after that, the assault charges against Bourne were reduced from felony to misdemeanor; he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in jail on each count with the sentences to run concurrently.
It was shortly after Bourne was released that authorities say he ended Adriaunna Horton's life.
It took the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 12-year-old girl to finally convince a judge that it was time to revoke Bobby Bourne's probation.
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