|
|
|
|
Montgomery Advertiser PRATTVILLE -- Two high-profile Autauga County capital murder cases -- one from 2007 and one from 2008 -- likely will go to trial this summer. Robert Dezire Szymanski, 39, was charged in the June 2007 beating death of John Hinton Jr., 66, whose body was found in his downtown Prattville home by relatives. Autopsy results show he died of blunt force trauma. Szymanski is set to go on trial the week of June 28, courthouse records show. Szymanski has been held in the Autauga Metro Jail under no bond since his September 2007 arrest, jail records show. Capital murder charges were filed because Szymanski allegedly stole Hinton's vehicle after beating him to death, said District Attorney Randall Houston. Szymanski's attorney, Robert Bowers Jr. of Clanton, did not return phone calls seeking comment. Justin Tyler Hosch, 22, was charged in the shooting death of local businessman Joe Wilmore. Wilmore was shot to death Oct. 19, 2008, in a car repair shop he was building in the Pine Level community. Hosch allegedly stole Wilmore's truck in an escape attempt, Houston said. According to court records, no trial date has been set for Hosch. Thomas Azar Jr., one of his attorneys, said the trial could be sometime in August. Houston said the time it has taken to bring the cases to trial isn't unusual. "Each case has its own life, and that is especially true for capital murder cases," he said. "The bar is set higher for capital cases because the sentence upon conviction is either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty." Houston said that after speaking with the family of Hinton, it was decided the death penalty would not be sought against Szymanski if he's convicted. Hosch will face the death penalty if convicted, courthouse records show. Azar, Hosch's attorney, said the trial could begin in August or could be delayed. "I agree with Randall (Houston) about capital cases being more complicated," he said. "In Justin's case, we are dealing with three separate counties where our investigation will take us. We just got the case last fall, so we are still very early in our investigation and preparation for trial. We want to make sure we are fully prepared to defend Justin before going to trial." Hosch escaped from the Frank Lee Youth Center in nearby Deatsville a couple of days before Wilmore was killed. The youth center is a minimum-security facility in Elmore County for male inmates who were younger than 21 when they were sentenced for nonviolent crimes. The U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force arrested Hosch in Scottsboro about two weeks after Wilmore's death. Scottsboro is in Jackson County. Hosch is now in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections, serving out his sentence on the unrelated charge that sent him to the youth center, said Brian Corbett, spokesman for the department. Hosch's sentence will end April 15, and then he will be transferred to the Autauga Metro Jail to be held on the capital murder charge, Corbett said. |
||
|
Back |
||