Kansas man pleads innocent in voodoo guitar-string beheading case

A former Topeka man suspected of killing a man by severing his head with a guitar string in 2011 pleaded innocent to murder.

After a hearing Monday, trial for 29-year-old Paul Harris was set for June 23. He’s charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of James Gerety, who died in March or April of 2011.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Harris’ girlfriend testified in March that he said he severed Gerety’s head with a guitar string. A Topeka police officer testified that he was told Harris kept the head so he could talk to it as part of a voodoo ritual.

Gerety’s partial remains were found a year later in the Osage County town of Carbondale.

This story was originally published April 1, 2014 at 6:50 AM with the headline "Kansas man pleads innocent in voodoo guitar-string beheading case."