Carmen Hunt was a 40-year-old African American woman residing in Kansas City, Missouri, whose life was tragically ended during a spree of violence in 2004. Her skeletal remains were discovered on September 3, 2004, concealed beneath a piece of carpet and brush behind a vacant apartment building at 2905 Park Avenue. Medical examiners determined that she had been deceased for some time before her body was found, and the cause of death was ruled as strangulation.
The investigation into her
death was propelled by a series of chilling 911 calls made by a man identifying himself as 'Scott.' The caller taunted law enforcement by providing directions to the locations of several bodies, including Hunt's, effectively claiming responsibility for the crimes. These calls led police to discovery sites along the Prospect Avenue corridor, an area where the suspect had targeted women. Investigators utilized linguistic analysis of the recorded calls and DNA evidence recovered from another victim in the series to identify the perpetrator.
Law enforcement focused their attention on Terry A. Blair, a suspect with a prior conviction for the 1982 murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. Blair, who had been paroled in 2002, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Hunt and five other women. The prosecution presented evidence that Blair had engaged in a predatory pattern, strangling his victims and discarding their bodies in abandoned garages, vacant lots, and overgrown alleys.
In 2008, Blair waived his right to a jury trial, placing his fate in the hands of a judge. Jackson County Circuit Judge John O'Malley presided over the case and found Blair guilty on six counts of first-degree murder. The judge cited the strong evidentiary links, including the phone calls and forensic data, as the basis for the conviction. Terry Blair was subsequently sentenced to six consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.
