Post by CCADP on Apr 16, 2006 14:42:18 GMT -5
Moore Township woman to plead guilty to hammer killing: Defendant, 72, could be spared death penalty.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 The Morning Call
Byline: Tyra Braden
Apr. 13--Kathy MacClellan, the 72-year-old Moore Township woman against whom prosecutors had sought the death penalty in the hammering death of her 84-year-old neighbor, will plead guilty, her attorney said Wednesday.
Police said MacClellan, who lived at 16 Valley View Drive, attacked Marguerite "Tutti" Eyer on Feb. 7, 2005, in Eyer's home in the Hickory Hills section of the township. Eyer activated an emergency call button, and when a neighbor came to check, the mortally wounded Eyer, lying in a pool of blood, said "Kathy" had hurt her. Eyer was also able to tell police "Kathy" was her assailant. She died shortly thereafter of multiple injuries, including a fractured skull. Police found Eyer's wallet and a bloody claw hammer in MacClellan's home. Public defender Anthony Martino, who along with public defender Mark Minotti represents MacClellan, told Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano on Wednesday that MacClellan wanted to plead guilty. Giordano set a plea hearing for April 24. After leaving the brief session with Giordano, Assistant District Attorney Jay W. Jenkins said it would be inappropriate for him to discuss the plea agreement before the plea occurred. Martino said only that in exchange for a plea, the death penalty request was being withdrawn. "It is a negotiated plea instead of a trial," Martino said. Neither Jenkins nor Martino said to what MacClellan would plead. She remains at the county prison without bail, charged with homicide, an umbrella charge that includes murder of the first, second and third degrees as well as voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
A plea to first- or second-degree murder would call for a mandatory prison term of life without possibility of parole. A plea to third-degree murder would draw a sentence of no more than 40 years. Voluntary manslaughter calls for a maximum sentence of not more than 20 years, and involuntary manslaughter results in a sentence not to exceed five years. At a preliminary hearing for MacClellan, James Peter Bicking, 37, of 2 Parkview Court, testified he was visiting a friend a few blocks from Eyer's home when the friend received a call that Eyer had activated her emergency call button. Bicking said he went to Eyer's home at 6 Springridge Road and encountered MacClellan on the porch. He said MacClellan told him, "It's too late....She's already dead." Bicking went into Eyer's home, and finding her on the floor, called 911 and tried to comfort her. Eyer suffered 37 wounds.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 The Morning Call
Byline: Tyra Braden
Apr. 13--Kathy MacClellan, the 72-year-old Moore Township woman against whom prosecutors had sought the death penalty in the hammering death of her 84-year-old neighbor, will plead guilty, her attorney said Wednesday.
Police said MacClellan, who lived at 16 Valley View Drive, attacked Marguerite "Tutti" Eyer on Feb. 7, 2005, in Eyer's home in the Hickory Hills section of the township. Eyer activated an emergency call button, and when a neighbor came to check, the mortally wounded Eyer, lying in a pool of blood, said "Kathy" had hurt her. Eyer was also able to tell police "Kathy" was her assailant. She died shortly thereafter of multiple injuries, including a fractured skull. Police found Eyer's wallet and a bloody claw hammer in MacClellan's home. Public defender Anthony Martino, who along with public defender Mark Minotti represents MacClellan, told Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano on Wednesday that MacClellan wanted to plead guilty. Giordano set a plea hearing for April 24. After leaving the brief session with Giordano, Assistant District Attorney Jay W. Jenkins said it would be inappropriate for him to discuss the plea agreement before the plea occurred. Martino said only that in exchange for a plea, the death penalty request was being withdrawn. "It is a negotiated plea instead of a trial," Martino said. Neither Jenkins nor Martino said to what MacClellan would plead. She remains at the county prison without bail, charged with homicide, an umbrella charge that includes murder of the first, second and third degrees as well as voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.
A plea to first- or second-degree murder would call for a mandatory prison term of life without possibility of parole. A plea to third-degree murder would draw a sentence of no more than 40 years. Voluntary manslaughter calls for a maximum sentence of not more than 20 years, and involuntary manslaughter results in a sentence not to exceed five years. At a preliminary hearing for MacClellan, James Peter Bicking, 37, of 2 Parkview Court, testified he was visiting a friend a few blocks from Eyer's home when the friend received a call that Eyer had activated her emergency call button. Bicking said he went to Eyer's home at 6 Springridge Road and encountered MacClellan on the porch. He said MacClellan told him, "It's too late....She's already dead." Bicking went into Eyer's home, and finding her on the floor, called 911 and tried to comfort her. Eyer suffered 37 wounds.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.