Trial will go on without a body of Gilbert woman
By Gary Grado and Katie McDevitt
Tribune
February 10, 2007
A grand jury indicted a Mesa man Friday in the slaying and rape of a Gilbert nursing student even though her body is still missing.
County prosecutors believe Gilbert police have collected enough evidence since the Jan. 28 disappearance of Jackie Hartman, 19, to convict 25-year-old Jonathan Ian Burns of first-degree murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and misconduct involving weapons.
“We would not have gone forward with the case if we didn’t feel (we) could get a conviction,” said Sally Wells, special assistant county attorney.
Although the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has been successful in prosecuting homicides without a body over the years, this case could present special challenges.
Proving homicide without a body is difficult, experts say, but proving sexual assault without a victim or a witness will be even tougher. In fact, many legal experts said they have never heard of such a case in the past.
“I’m scratching my head,” said defense attorney Richard Gierloff, who defended two men in a 1997 homicide case in which police had not found the body. “If I had to speculate a little bit, I’d say they’re charging the sexual assault because then they don’t have to prove premeditation.”
He said prosecutors will have to flesh that out before trial.
But Wells said proving sexual assault without a body or witnesses is still possible.
“When we don’t have a body, we still have other evidence,” she said.
She would not elaborate on the evidence but said the case could include DNA samples, witness statements, telephone records and statements from Burns.
According to court records, police found Hartman’s bloody shirt spotted with bullet holes, her ripped bra and other items in a trash bin near Burns’ home.
Burns admitted to police he had sex with Hartman. The two had met a few days earlier at a gas station and were on a date together the night Hartman went missing.
Police won’t say what specific evidence they have to prove the sex was rape.
“It almost sounds easier to prosecute for the homicide than the sexual assault,” said Andrew Leipold, professor and co-director of the Program in Criminal Law & Procedure at the University of Illinois College of Law. “You can’t just show the bloody clothes with bullet holes and say, ‘Well, that’s that.’ Juries like a coherent story of what happened.”
Grant Woods, former Arizona attorney general and veteran prosecutor, said he respects prosecutors who will take on cases even if they are not certain they’ll win in court.
“Even though it’s a difficult situation without a body or victim, if you believe he’s guilty, he shouldn’t be able to walk,” Woods said. “It should be about what’s the right thing to do. You don’t have to win them all.”
Wells said the county attorney’s office could not ethically prosecute the case unless there was a belief that a jury would return a guilty verdict.
Police are continuing to gather evidence in connection with Hartman’s disappearance, but they have halted their desert search efforts until the investigation points them elsewhere.
Hartman’s family is continuing to comb parts of the East Valley along with 30 to 40 volunteers on horseback, all-terrain vehicles and foot.
Jackie Hartman’s father, David Hartman, said in a telephone interview that they are searching where their instincts take them. Police said it would exhaust too many resources and waste too much time to search random spots throughout the vast desert.
Instead, Sgt. Andrew Duncan, Gilbert police spokesman, said police are serving search warrants and working “behind the scenes” to build the case.
Valley homicide cases lacking bodies:
• Dec. 17, 2005: Sharon Hale, 35, and her father, Clarence Moten, 55, were charged with first-degree murder and fraud after her husband, Darrin Hale, disappeared from their Gilbert home. Moten told police he committed the slaying at his daughter’s request. The state is seeking the death penalty against Hale and Moten, who are awaiting trial.
• April 1, 2002: David L. Anthony of Peoria was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Donna Anthony, 53; her daughter, Danielle Romero, 14; and her son, Richard Romero, 12. The bodies were not found until three years after David Anthony’s conviction, when construction workers in Buckeye located three steel drums containing remains.
• May 13, 1999: Henry William Hall and Lee Phillip Mileham were found guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, theft, burglary and forgery in the death of Theodore Lindberry. Lindberry was beaten to death in a hotel room while Hall and Mileham robbed him. Hall was sentenced to death and Mileham was sentenced to life in prison. The victim’s body was found in 2002.
• Nov. 18, 1997: Jeremy Bach, 24, of Ahwatukee Foothills was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison for the shooting death of Brad Hansen, 13. Bach, who was the youngest juvenile to be tried as an adult in Arizona at the time, stuffed Hansen’s body into a garbage can after accidentally shooting him. Authorities searched the Butterfield Landfill for a month but couldn’t find his body. Bach was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (480) 898-6573.
Contact Katie McDevitt by email, or phone (480) 898-6334.
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