PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Edwin Lara’s confession to the murder of Kaylee Sawyer in Bend has been thrown out of evidence, a Deschutes County Judge ruled Friday.
Lara is accused of running over 23-year-old Sawyer with his Central Oregon Community College campus public safety vehicle and then putting her in the trunk and killing her in July 2016. He faces 4 counts of aggravated murder and the death penalty if he is convicted.
His confession, obtained during a 6-hour interview with California detectives, cannot be used as evidence in court because the judge said Lara asked for a lawyer prior to speaking with detectives but was not allowed to, according to KBNZ in Bend.
In court Friday, attorneys said after being prompted, Lara told the detectives, “I want to tell you where the body is, I do, but I want to get home first.”
The judge denied the defense attorney’s request to strike some of the evidence including Sawyer’s body.
According to court documents obtained after the murder, Lara went on a crime spree after allegedly killing Sawyer. Documents said he tried to sexually assault her, killed her and dumped her body on or around July 24, 2016.
After that he allegedly kidnapped a woman in Salem and took her to California where he shot a man and carjacked a vehicle with 3 people inside. After a high-speed chase, the California Highway Patrol arrested Lara.