A jury trial for Joshua Knapp, charged with the murder of Iolan Shawn Cook, has been pushed back to January.
Allen County District Judge Daniel Creitz approved Wednesday a defense motion to delay the start of the trial — originally scheduled for Nov. 13 — because of plea agreements reached by Knapp’s co-defendants, James Myers and Rhonda Jackson.
Myers and Jackson had been charged along with Knapp with first-degree murder in Cook’s March 2016 death.
Myers reached a deal with prosecutors Sept. 19, in which he pleaded no-contest to four counts of obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence. The murder charge was dismissed.
A plea deal also is in the works for Jackson, who has an Oct. 23 hearing scheduled. Those details have not been released.
(Also charged with Cook’s murder were Amber Boeken and Jessica Epting, who reached plea deals earlier this year.)
The issue, Knapp’s attorney John Boyd noted, is that neither Jackson nor Myers testified at a joint preliminary hearing for all three in June, preventing him from deposing either of the other two.
Creitz allowed the extension to allow for such depositions.
Additionally, Boyd asked Creitz to direct prosecutors to hand over all documents related to the plea deals, including any records of negotiations between Allen County Attorney Jerry Hathaway and Bryan Duncan, who represents Myers, and Robert Myers, Jackson’s attorney.
To accommodate Creitz’s motion, Knapp waived his right to a speedy trial.
Defendants are guaranteed a trial within 150 days of their arraignment; Knapp was arraigned Aug. 2.
PRIOR to Wednesday’s hearing, Boyd filed a 21-page motion to suppress testimony from a number of witnesses who testified at the preliminary hearing, most prominently, Epting.
Epting pleaded guilty in January to obstruction of justice charges as part of her plea agreement.
Boyd pointed to several inconsistencies regarding Epting’s testimony at the preliminary hearing, especially how it differed from statements she made in January, alleging Myers confessed to her that he killed Cook. (Epting alleged in January Knapp confessed during an emotional outburst at a friend’s house; she said in June the confession came while the two were walking along Spruce Street with Epting’s nephew.)
In other motions filed before Wednesday, Boyd requested Creitz strike any hearsay evidence; and posited the defense’s theory that Cook was murdered by Boeken because of a drug deal gone bad between Cook and Jackson.
Boeken pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February for her role in Cook’s killing. She testified it was Knapp who killed Cook, then dumped his body in the Neosho River northwest of Iola.
Boyd also asked Creitz to block any testimony from Delores Silcox and Casey Bryant, both of whom allegedly told investigators after the murder that Myers told them details about the crime. Both were unable to recall such conversations at the preliminary hearing.
Rachel Fisher did not testify at the preliminary hearing, but was on the prosecution’s witness list, based on a telephone call Knapp apparently made to her after Cook’s death.
Boyd said Fisher should not be forced to testify because she and Knapp are married via common-law.
Creitz asked Boyd to provide proof of the marriage before he would rule.
CREITZ directed Boyd to file his pre-trial motions separately by Oct. 20, so he can rule on them at a Nov. 13 hearing.
Creitz said some of Boyd’s motions may not be ruled on until the trial begins Jan. 29.
“Some of these we may have to decide on the fly,” Creitz said, and not ruled on prematurely.
