KC-area woman found guilty of murder in 2007 shooting death of her ex-husband
Over 12 years after her ex-husband was found shot to death, a Parkville woman has been convicted of murder, according to a statement from the Platte County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Following an eight-day trial, a Platte County jury on Thursday found Letti K. Strait, 59, guilty of one count of first-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of 52-year-old Charles V. Cammisano, whose body was found by a relative on Sept. 1, 2007.
Cammisano and Strait had been arguing several months prior to the killing because, prosecutors alleged, she had improperly claimed she had custody of the four Cammisano children in order to collect food stamps.
Cammisano had primary physical custody of the four children and was struggling financially. He applied for food stamps in July 2007, prosecutors said, but was denied because Strait had been collecting food stamp benefits for the children for more than two years.
One of the children, who was 9 at the time, testified that he overheard his mother say, “We have to kill him” the day before Cammisano was found dead. Prosecutors also said Cammisano had told a friend the night before that his ex-wife had threatened to kill him.
Strait’s husband, Terry Strait, told the jury he waited outside Cammisano’s home where Letti Strait had shot Cammisano, prosecutors said.
Cammisano was shot several times. The victim’s Jeep, which was missing, was later found near the Cold Storage Lofts in the River Market. Prosecutors said DNA matching Letti Strait was found on the vehicle’s steering wheel.
A Platte County grand jury indicted the Straits in 2014 for their alleged involvement in the shooting.
In 2016, Terry Strait pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. He is awaiting sentencing.
Letti Strait is scheduled to be sentenced May 26, and faces a punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“This was a complex and difficult case with little direct evidence connecting Letti Strait to the murder of her ex-husband,” said Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd in a statement. “However, the circumstantial evidence proving her guilt was strong, and I commend the Riverside Police Department for collecting everything necessary for a jury to convict.”
