Medford, Ore — Back in court, the woman accused of murdering two people and dismembering their bodies went before a judge this morning.
Susan Monica didn’t talk as her attorneys spoke on her behalf. The Rogue River woman’s murder trial begins in a month when jurors will see what prosecutors call mounting evidence against her.
It didn’t take Judge Timothy Barnack long to decide, the trial of accused murderer Susan Monica will go on as planned despite motions by the defense.
We are going to ask for jury instructions to separate the incidents,” said Defense Attorney Christine Herbert.
Monica is accused of murdering Robert Haney and Stephen Frank Delicino between 2012 and 2013, dismembering the bodies and burying them on her rural property in Rogue River.
Monica’s attorneys argued combining the murders into one case would be unfair to the defendant.
It is substantially prejudiced to Ms. Monica to try two separate murder cases at the same time,” said Herbert.
Judge Barnack saw no reason to separate the murder cases.
“That motion to separate is denied,” said Barnack.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Allan Smith says a fair trial is possible despite the media attention, but defense attorney Christine Herbert argued otherwise.
There are no facts asserted that she couldn’t be given a fair trial, said Smith.
It’s going to be difficult for them to separate the evidence and the facts, said Herbert.
To ensure a fair trial the D.A.’s office will be sending out a questionnaire to find unbiased jurors.
“At this point we’re pretty positive we’ll be able to get a jury that can dedicate and decide purely on the facts,” said Smith.
Another defense motion to throw out evidence was also denied, paving the way for an April 13th trial 14 months after her arrest.
Monica faces two counts of murder, abuse of a corpse and identity theft.
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