Man serving life sentence gets new trial in 1992 murder of Leawood man

A Johnson County judge has thrown out the first-degree murder conviction of a man sentenced to life in prison for the 1992 killing of a Leawood businessman.

Harold Glen Ford Jr. was returned Wednesday to Johnson County after the judge’s order granted him a new trial. He is being held in the county jail with a bond of $1 million.

Ford, now 49, was one of two men convicted in the robbery and killing of 51-year-old Michael Owen.

Owen was found dead on Sept. 11, 1992, on the front lawn of his home in the 13700 block of Pembroke Circle. He had been bludgeoned and his throat was cut.

Ford, now 49, pleaded guilty to killing Owen and was sentenced to life in prison.

But on appeal, he argued that the judge overseeing the case had never determined Ford’s mental competency to stand trial.

Although court records show that Ford was examined by a doctor who determined that he was competent to stand trial, the records don’t show that the judge actually held a hearing on the competency issue.

Because of that, the Kansas Supreme Court issued an order to determine if a “retrospective” competency hearing was feasible, and if so, was Ford competent to stand trial.

The hearing was held last year in Johnson County District Court, but because of the passage of time, the death of one key witness and the inability to find Ford’s old medical records, District Judge Kelly Ryan ruled that a meaningful competency hearing could not be held.

As a result, the judge ruled that because Ford’s competency could not be adequately determined, his constitutional due process rights were violated and his conviction and sentence must be vacated.

Ford’s co-defendant in the case, Michael Ninci, went to trial and was convicted in Owen’s death.

Ninci, who is also now 49, is serving a life sentence and has his first chance for a parole hearing in September, according to Kansas prison records.

The Johnson County ruling does not affect Ford’s conviction for another murder that occurred in Kansas City about a month before Owen was killed.

In that case, Ford’s competency was not raised. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 10:08 AM with the headline "Man serving life sentence gets new trial in 1992 murder of Leawood man."