Bridgeport Police Chief John Walker said he was pleased with the finished product as a result of the recent show “Cold Justice” on national television that laid out the entire case for the near 10-year-old murder of 67-year-old Kyle Smith. Walker, like plenty of others locally, was tuning in Friday, Feb. 20, to see the show.

 

“I thought it was done well. Actually, I thought it was done very well,” Walker said.

 

The show ended with attorney and former Texas Prosecutor Kelly Siegler and former Las Vegas crime scene investigator Yolanda McClary – the stars of TNT’s show – telling relatives of Smith that the case is back alive. They told relatives that the case has had staff from the Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney’s office assigned to it.

 

So what does that mean? Walker said it is likely good news for those related to Smith, those that knew Smith and a community that has wanted to put closure on the only homicide in recent memory.

 

“(The prosecuting attorney’s office) is still working with it and reviewing it and making some suggestions. It’s very active right now,” said Walker. “Through the years we’ve always received comments about why we haven’t filed any charges in the case and it’s tough to explain and sometimes you can’t get into details because it’s still an ongoing investigation. What I can say and glad to say is that I’m confident that we’ll soon have charges filed in this case with sufficient evidence.”

 

As for evidence, the show didn’t waste any time in laying out what the police already knew, including almost immediately naming the two key suspects in the case. The suspects included Karl “KB” Kyle and his son Karl E. Kyle and interviews with them on camera or microphone. The show also included interviews in various forms with law enforcement and key witnesses.

 

“It was the first time most of the information had been released,” said Walker. “That timing has to be carefully planned. We didn’t decide to do that lightly.”

 

Walker said the frustration with the case is two-fold. First, he said that it’s been frustrating to not be able to move forward with it and second, it’s frustrating – as mentioned above – knowing many in the public want to see action.

 

“It’s really easy to identify a perpetrator or suspect, but it’s so much more involved to be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt in court,” said Walker. “That’s the way the court system works and, honestly, it’s the way we want it to work and the way it should work. It eliminates a lot of errors in reacting too quickly in many cases, and it lets you know that if you don’t have all the evidence to make a conviction stick that if you take it to court you’ve lost the case forever.”

 

Walker said he was pleased to know relatives of Smith were happy that Bridgeport Police contacted “Cold Justice” about doing the show. One of the investigators gave credit to lead detective Gary Weaver for “swallowing his pride,” which she indicated not a lot of officers would do in reaching out for help.

 

“I was pleased to hear that because in all of my years, one of the biggest mistakes I occasionally see in law enforcement is to make a case a turf battle. We don’t do that,” Walker said. “We accept assistance from anyone, in this case a national television show. If we can resolve this case, or any case for that matter, with an outside agency, then we’ll do it. Hopefully, this will lead to the end of this case.”

 

Below is the video from the Cold Justice "YouTube" channel for those that missed the episode or would like to watch it again.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Chief John Walker with Detective Gary Weaver to his left, while murder victim Kyle Smith is show in the second pitcure. Third picture shows "Cold Justice" investigators working with Weaver and Detective Brian Kemmerer in Council chambers during their December investigation. Bottom photo is of Karl "KB" Kyle, left, and Karl E. Kyle, KB's son, both of whom were listed as suspects in the show. At the end of the show, KB was eliminated as a suspect. All photos are still shots from the show.