Bradenton Beach murder trial this week
By Paul Roat
Islander Reporter
Bradenton Beach's first murder trial is ongoing this week.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin yesterday, with opening comments by defense and prosecuting attorneys slated to being today, Jan. 19, in the death of Carol Foreman allegedly at the hands of Kim Bean.
Foreman, 56, was found dead in the home she rented on Third Street North Feb. 4, 2004, by her ex-boyfriend. After a 36-hour investigation, Bradenton Beach Police Det. Sgt. Lenard Diaz said Kim Bean, 46, of Second Street, confessed to him of killing Foreman.
Cause of death was "blunt force trauma to the head," according to the report at the time. State attorneys charged Bean with second-degree murder.
Based on his investigation, Diaz said Bean, Foreman and others were in Foreman's home smoking crack cocaine the night of Feb. 3. The other people in the home left, and Bean and Foreman were alone in the home when the two allegedly got into an argument.
Bean described the incident to Diaz, saying Foreman had picked up a wine bottle and struck out at him. "He grabbed it from her and struck her on the forehead once," Diaz said, "and she fell to the floor. He grabbed his things and as he was leaving, she grabbed at his leg and tried to bite him. He said he kicked her once in the face, and said she was still alive when he left."
Diaz said Bean then went to a friend's house in Bradenton.
Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale said Diaz contacted Bean in the course of his investigation and, after a four-hour interview, Bean confessed to the crime.
Bean later recanted his statement and claimed that someone else committed the murder. He was then charged with second-degree murder.
Foreman had been a cook at the Bridge Street Pier and Cafe for about five years, and was popular in the neighborhood, according to her landlord, Gale Carter. "She was trying to bring her life back around," Carter said.
Bean was a commercial fisherman, working as a stone crabber in Cortez. "He was a hard worker," said James "Wyre" Lee. "He'd leave before the sun was up and come back after sunset."
Defending Bean is Assistant Public Defender Peter B. Belmont. Prosecuting him is Assistant State Attorney Brian Iten. Diaz said the case should last at least through this week.
The last homicide in Bradenton Beach was the Feb. 27, 1990, stabbing of Melanie Wright in the 2400 block of Avenue A, a case that remains unsolved. |
