Judge leaves bond at $1.5 million

NEWKIRK — Judge D.W. Boyd denied a request to reduce the $1.5 million bond for murder suspect Adam Christopher Payne of Ponca Cit y.

Boyd left the bond at its original amount in a bond hearing Tuesday afternoon in Kay County District Court. Payne remains in the Kay County Detention Center in lieu of the bond.

Payne, 31, is charged with murder in the first degree, deliberate intent, in the shooting death of Justin Wayne Backhaus, 32.

Backhaus was shot in the head on Jan. 16 and died Jan. 20 at St. Francis Hospital. The two men lived together in the 2600 block of Ames. The shooting occurred in the street.

A jury trial is scheduled for June 2, 2015, in Kay County District Court.