Kansas man pleads guilty in two killings
COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) — A southeastern Kansas man faces sentencing Dec 27 after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree premeditated murder for killing two people in 2020. The office of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Wednesday announced the guilty plea of 30-year-old Mark Hopkins II of Columbus. Blaze Shank of Scammon and Kylan Shook of Pittsburg were shot to death in rural northeastern Cherokee County in June 2020. Hopkins and another inmate escaped from jail in May but were captured days later in Oklahoma. Charges against a second suspect in the shootings are still pending.