Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 16, 2006 23:19:23 GMT -5
By Steve Barrett, For the Herald-Standard
07/15/2006
Prosecutors filed a notice of aggravating circumstances Thursday that would give them the right to pursue the death penalty if a New Geneva man is found guilty in Greene County Court of killing a 12-year Dunkard Township girl.
Jeffrey Robert Martin, 48, was arrested on June 17 on charges that he killed Gabrielle Bechen after her body was found in a shallow grave on a horse farm near her home. Martin's arrest came after a five-day search in which hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement authorities scoured the area looking for the girl, who was last seen riding her all-terrain vehicle on the morning of June 13.
Martin, who was employed as a caretaker on the farm where Bechen's body was found, was ordered to stand trial during his preliminary hearing on June 21 on charges of homicide, aggravated assault and four counts of tampering with evidence.
During his preliminary hearing, prosecutors played a recorded interview in which Martin told state police he panicked on June 13 when Bechen told him that she would tell her parents that he molested her. In the recording, Martin said he then grabbed Bechen's arm and she ran, but fell down and he choked her until she stopped moving. He said he then buried her and the evidence.
The notice of aggravating circumstances was filed Thursday with the Greene County Clerk of Courts office by Linda Chambers, the county's first assistant district attorney. Chambers said the purpose of the notice is to preserve the commonwealth's right to request the death penalty as the sentence in Bechen's murder.
Chambers said Bechen's parents were consulted, and they agreed with the decision to file the notice.
A representative from the clerk of courts office said Friday that the notice and the case file were impounded by a judicial order because Bechen was a minor.
Chambers said she could not divulge more information about the notice because of the judicial order.
Source: Heraldstandard.com
www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16925802&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
07/15/2006
Prosecutors filed a notice of aggravating circumstances Thursday that would give them the right to pursue the death penalty if a New Geneva man is found guilty in Greene County Court of killing a 12-year Dunkard Township girl.
Jeffrey Robert Martin, 48, was arrested on June 17 on charges that he killed Gabrielle Bechen after her body was found in a shallow grave on a horse farm near her home. Martin's arrest came after a five-day search in which hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement authorities scoured the area looking for the girl, who was last seen riding her all-terrain vehicle on the morning of June 13.
Martin, who was employed as a caretaker on the farm where Bechen's body was found, was ordered to stand trial during his preliminary hearing on June 21 on charges of homicide, aggravated assault and four counts of tampering with evidence.
During his preliminary hearing, prosecutors played a recorded interview in which Martin told state police he panicked on June 13 when Bechen told him that she would tell her parents that he molested her. In the recording, Martin said he then grabbed Bechen's arm and she ran, but fell down and he choked her until she stopped moving. He said he then buried her and the evidence.
The notice of aggravating circumstances was filed Thursday with the Greene County Clerk of Courts office by Linda Chambers, the county's first assistant district attorney. Chambers said the purpose of the notice is to preserve the commonwealth's right to request the death penalty as the sentence in Bechen's murder.
Chambers said Bechen's parents were consulted, and they agreed with the decision to file the notice.
A representative from the clerk of courts office said Friday that the notice and the case file were impounded by a judicial order because Bechen was a minor.
Chambers said she could not divulge more information about the notice because of the judicial order.
Source: Heraldstandard.com
www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16925802&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6