A jury trial for a man accused of providing Fentanyl-laced pills that led to a Wamego man’s overdose death two years ago continues in Pottawatomie County District Court.
Jurors heard additional testimony from the state’s witnesses Wednesday in the trial of McKaine Farr, who is charged with distribution of Fentanyl, resulting in death. An audio recording was played in court that featured KBI investigator Robert Besenyi questioning Farr in June 2022, nine months after Jayson Ebert’s September 2021 overdose death.
Farr admitted in the recording to being the middle man, who helped Ebert acquire six oxycodone pills from a provider who lived in Manhattan, but only after a lengthy conversation and prodding on the part of Besenyi. Initially Farr told Besenyi he hadn’t met with Ebert since late July or early August 2021 when they played video games together.
Investigators determined that Ebert paid Farr $200 through Venmo just two days before his death, which Farr initially attributed to being a transaction for groceries, later retracting that statement through further questioning. Farr also claimed that the distributor, who he identified as Trace Henderson, was buying pills through the mail and knew they were laced with Fentanyl.
On cross examination, Farr’s attorney Barry Clark questioned whether Besenyi interviewed any of Ebert’s confidants who also used drugs with Besenyi testifying he did not. He also stated he was not presented any evidence from the case prior to his June 2022 meeting with Farr.
Later in the day, jurors heard from a toxicologist and a forensic pathologist, the latter of whom stated Ebert’s cause of death was combined fentanyl/cocaine intoxication. He noted that if not for the lethal amount of Fentanyl in his blood, Ebert likely would have survived.
The trial continues Thursday in Judge Jeff Elder’s courtroom.
