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Slain girl thought to be victim of would-be cannibal

Kevin Ray Underwood, 26, shown in this undated photograph was being held yesterday in the McClain County Jail on a first-degree murder complaint. The body of missing 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin was found in Underwood's apartment on Friday, police said. PHOTO: AP

A slain 10-year-old girl's body, found in her downstairs neighbor's apartment, had deep saw marks on the neck, said authorities who alleged that her killer had planned to dismember her and eat the flesh.

The family of Jamie Rose Bolin was in shock, not only with the news of her slaying but with the fact that she apparently died so close to home.

Kevin Ray Underwood, 26, was arrested on Friday after investigators found Jamie's body in the closet of a bedroom in his apartment, authorities said. The girl's unclothed body was inside a large plastic tub, along with a towel used to soak up blood, officials said.

Purcell police Chief David Tompkins said on Saturday that investigators think the killer hit her several times with a wooden cutting board, then placed his hand and duct tape over her mouth to suffocate her. She was sexually assaulted after she died, officials said.

Tompkins and McClain County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall released the gruesome details about the final moments of Jamie's life and what they alleged were Underwood's plans for her body, but they would not say whether Underwood had confessed to the slaying.

Kuykendall said that Underwood said he began fantasizing about eating someone a year ago. The prosecutor added that authorities believe "that while she was ultimately chosen to be the victim of this horrific crime, that other people had been targeted and considered," including a woman and a five-year-old boy.

An autopsy report said the girl died from blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation.

"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," the police chief said.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents seized a decorative dagger, a hack saw, duct tape, meat tenderizer, barbecue skewers, a duffel bag, the cutting board, a computer and a videotape about a serial killer, Tompkins said.

Police think Jamie died on Wednesday, the day she was last seen at the library in Purcell, about 30km south of Oklahoma City. She was reported missing that night.

"Jamie was in the apartment below us the whole time," said Rose Fox, Jamie's grandmother. "The only reason that he couldn't move the body and hide it was because somebody was out there the whole time, either on the balcony smoking or standing in front of the apartment."

Authorities said they became suspicious of Underwood when he pulled up to a check point set up near the apartment two days after the girl was reported missing.

"He was an occupant of a vehicle. He just wasn't acting right," Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Kera Philippi said. "From there, they talked to him and the FBI took him into questioning."
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