Christian “Kit” Martin, the man accused in the 2015 murder of three neighbors in Pembroke, is now facing a $3 million bond following an adversarial bond hearing in Christian Circuit Court Wednesday.
The former army major appeared in a full court room along with defense attorney Tom Griffiths, who argued against such a steep bond, saying $3 million is the same as having no bond at all, which is what the hearing was set to address.
Griffiths requested the bond be set at $500,000, saying his client is willing to abide by all restrictions that come with being out on bond.
Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Prather argued that Martin does have a prior misdemeanor conviction, has a history of creating aliases and is charged in the murder of three people.
Prather contended that a $3 million bond was justifiable in this case, due to the nature of the investigation and the charges. After hearing the evidence, Judge John Atkins agreed and set Martin’s bond at $3 million—$1 million per each homicide charge—cash only.
Prather says they intend to have several pieces of DNA evidence tested and the defense intends to have their own expert present during the testing. No trial date has been set, but another pretrial conference was set for April 15, in the hopes that testing will be completed in that time.
Martin is charged for three counts of murder, arson, attempted arson, first-degree burglary and three counts of tampering with physical evidence. The charges are in relation events that occurred on November 18, 2015, in which Calvin Phillips was found shot to death in his home located on South Main Street in Pembroke. The bodies of Pamela Phillips and their neighbor, Edward Dansereau were found a few miles away in a corn field near Rosetown Road in a burned up car owned by Mrs. Phillips. Martin could face the death penalty, if convicted.