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January 25, 2006

Fawley Makes First Court Appearance in Taylor Behl Murder Case

Trial In Co-Ed Slaying Set To Begin In May.

Jan 25, 2006

By Seamus McGraw and Mike Wild

Crime Library) Mathews County, Va.

Flanked by sheriff's officers and accompanied by his newly appointed lawyer, part-time photographer and accused killer Ben Fawley made his first court appearance this morning in the murder of 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman Taylor Behl.

The 38-year-old Fawley, who had been transported to a small holding cell in the courthouse before dawn, in part to avoid the phalanx of reporters who, as expected, gathered outside the courthouse, seemed subdued during the brief hearing before Judge William H. Shaw.

Unshackled, and wearing a dark sport shirt and slacks, he spoke only once, answering "No," in a clear and strong voice when the judge asked whether he could afford an attorney.

As expected, the court named William Johnson, a Mathews County lawyer with 15 years' experience, to lead the defense. Veteran trial lawyer Chris Collins, who has represented Fawley since his arrest last fall, will join Johnson. Collins has agreed to work on the case without charge.

The trial is scheduled to begin May 30. Both authorities and Johnson have downplayed reports that the defense may seek a change of venue in the case. In an interview earlier this week with Crime Library, Johnson said he has "great faith in the ability of the people of Mathews to fairly try the case."

Because of the widespread publicity the case has received, Sheriff Danny C. Howlett said jurors in the case probably would be sequestered throughout the trial. The trial is expected to last at least a week.

Johnson has given no hint of how he might try to counter the state's case against Fawley and he made no comment as he left the packed courthouse Wednesday. But Janet Pelasara, the mother of the slain girl, spoke briefly to reporters, saying "we've got our man now...the process needs to go forward."

Pelasara, who has long maintained that Fawley intentionally killed Behl because he was angry over her efforts to terminate their brief relationship, said she felt numb as she sat in the courtroom, glaring for the first time at the man accused of the first-degree murder of her daughter. "I felt absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing, " she said.

Prosecutors also offered no comment on the case. A gag order, imposed last fall after reports surfaced that Fawley had made comments implicating himself in Behl's death, remains in place.

Fawley, who is now being held without bail on the murder charge, reportedly told authorities that the young woman died accidentally during rough sex soon after the fall term at VCU began. A month later, her badly decomposed remains were found on a farm linked to Fawley in this rural eastern Virginia community.

Because authorities believe the crime was committed in Mathews County, Fawley is being prosecuted here. Last week, a grand jury alleged that he had committed the murder intentionally "during the commission of, or attempt to commit forcible rape, sodomy or abduction."

If convicted, Fawley faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0106/2501_Fawley_first_court_appearance1.html

Posted by Nealus at January 25, 2006 08:57 PM

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