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April 16, 2006

‘He seemed so normal’

• Purcell reacts to news local man accused of murdering, plotting to cannibalize 10-year-old girl

By Melissa A. Wabnitz

Transcript Staff Writer

PURCELL— Months of strategic planning and preparation led Kevin Underwood to invite in, kill, attempt to dismember and sexually assault his upstairs neighbor, Jamie Rose Bolin, District Attorney Tim Kuykendall said Saturday.

“It is our belief that though she was chosen to be the victim of this particular crime, other people, children and adults, had been targeted,” said Purcell Police Chief David Tompkins.

Bolin, 10, was found dead in a plastic tub in the closet of Underwood’s apartment Friday afternoon. Police began searching for the girl Wednesday night, originally hypothesizing she may have been abducted by an online predator.

Saturday, Chief David Tompkins and Kuykendall said a number of items seized from Underwood’s apartment over the weekend indicated he was planning to consume part or all of Bolin’s body after he killed her and removed her head. He allegedly killed Underwood by beating her head three to four times with a wooden cutting board and smothering her with his hands and duct tape, said Tompkins. Additionally, it appeared Underwood had attempted to remove Bolin’s head with a decorative dagger, which was also seized.

“Regarding a potential motive, this appears to have been part of a plan to kidnap a person, rape them, torture them, kill them, cut off their head, drain the body of blood, rape the corpse, eat the corpse, then dispose of the organs and bones,” said Tompkins. Quietly collecting a number of items seized at the apartment, including a hacksaw, meat tenderizer, barbecue skewers, and a duffle bag, Underwood told investigators he’d “fantasized about cannibalism for about a year now,” Tompkins said Saturday.

An Amazon.com “wish list” compiled by Underwood also revealed the fascination with gore and death, officials said. Requested book titles included “Meat is Murder!: New Edition: An Illustrated Guide to Cannibal Culture,” “Skin Flutes and Velvet Gloves: A Collection of Facts and Fancies, Legends and Oddities About the Body’s Private Parts,” and “How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!!.”

Underwood, 26, characterized by many as “quiet,” was an all-around “pretty normal guy,” said former Carl’s Jr. co-worker Phillip Warren.

“He never gave any indication he was even capable of doing such an atrocious crime,” Warren said. “He was always early, never late, never called in sick or anything like that. He was a good worker when he was here… He was normal. We’d even go drinking and partying once in a while.”

Purcell resident and librarian Charlotte Rentfro said Purcell folks, still reeling from the news that a young girl who frequented the library was killed by a Purcell High graduate, are “devastated.”

“Purcell isn’t coping well at all,” she said. “This is just beyond everybody’s understanding. You just don’t know what you’re feeling. I mean, I knew her and I knew him too, at least when he was in school here. I know the whole bunch and I’ve sat here and cried and cried over it, because all of the people who are involved … I mean, can you just imagine? It has to be devastating to both sides.”

Kuykendall said he anticipates filing formal charges of first degree murder against Underwood Monday. He was being held without bail in the McClain County Jail.

Transcript copy editor Adam Scott contributed to this story.

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