How was Edwin Hall linked to Kelsey Smith's kidnapping and murder? Details explored ahead of #TextMeWhenYouGetHome

In June 2007, Kelsey Smith was kidnapped, assaulted, and murdered and Edwin Hall was identified as the unknown man following her. He was declared a suspect in the case after authorities viewed surveillance footage from the Target outlet the victim was taken from. He was eventually linked to the crime using a thumbprint found in the Smith's car.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.

18-year-old Kelsey Smith failed to return home after she went to buy her boyfriend John Biersmith a gift for their six-month anniversary on the evening of June 2. Her abandoned car was located that same night and her body was found a couple of days later using her phone records. Officials reported that she had been s*xually assaulted and strangled to death.

Smith was strangled to death (Image via Twitter)

As per Oxygen, Edwin Hall pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, murder, r*pe, and s*domy and was sentenced to life in prison a year and a half after the crime. He is currently serving time at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Kansas.

Kelsey Smith's kidnapping and murder case is set to feature on Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome on Monday, August 21, 2023, at 8:00 pm ET. The official synopsis for the upcoming episode reads:

"Kelsey's family knew something was amiss when their usually responsible and responsive daughter didn't respond to their texts while out running an errand."

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Edwin Hall was linked to Kelsey Smith's kidnapping and murder with surveillance footage and a thumbprint

A search for Kelsey Smithy was initiated when she failed to answer calls or respond to texts and wasn't found at the Target near her Overland Park, Kansas, home. Her boyfriend and her sister Lindsay began looking for her and located her abandoned car in the parking lot of a mall across from Target.

Four days after she was kidnapped, detectives got their hands on surveillance footage from the store. They then used an image of the suspect from the video and asked individuals with information about him to come forward. This was when a tipster identified the man as 26-year-old Edwin Hall.

Detectives reviewed the video multiple times and reported that the victim was being followed by Edwin, who then "forced Kelsey into her car."

After identifying Edwin as the suspect, detectives used Kelsey's phone records to trace her whereabouts. As per Kansas City Star, her phone last pinged in a wooded area called Longview Lake where authorities found her naked body with a nylon belt around her neck. A subsequent examination confirmed that she had been s*xually assaulted and officials declared the official cause of death as strangulation.

Edwin then admitted that he was at the Target outlet that evening and was linked to the killing using a thumbprint extracted from the driver's seat belt buckle in Kelsey's car. Moreover, a waitress came forward alleging that he once harassed her and slipped out without paying the bill.

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Where is Edwin Hall now?

The Cinemaholic reported that Edwin Hall was eventually charged with premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, r*pe, and aggravated s*domy. He pleaded guilty to the charges to avoid the death penalty and instead, was sentenced to life in prison in September 2008.

According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Edwin is currently serving his sentence at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

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Learn more about Kelsey Smith's murder case on Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome this Monday.