Trial will begin in just over one month for Pembroke triple murder suspect Christian “Kit” Martin and the Commonwealth will not seek the death penalty.
The trial is scheduled for Tuesday, June 1 in Hardin Circuit Court and Judge John Atkins said during a hearing Thursday afternoon that he’s been assured by officials there that it will not be a problem to have a jury pool of at least 200 individuals.
Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley said she’s ok with most of the requests from the defense for jury selection, but she doesn’t believe individual questioning will be necessary in the absence of the death penalty being a possibility.
Judge John Atkins agreed there is unlikely to be much jury tainting from publicity in Elizabethtown, but said they’ll have flexibility to do what’s necessary to seat a suitable jury.
Both sides seemed intent to begin trial June 1, but defense attorney Tom Griffiths said he still hasn’t gotten a final report on a cell phone analysis. Griffiths says it’s due to the Commonwealth’s expert’s computer crashing and he’s been told the report should be finished by the end of next week.
Martin is charged with three counts of murder, arson, attempted arson, first-degree burglary and three counts of tampering with physical evidence in connection with the November, 2015 deaths of Calvin Phillips, Pamela Phillips and Edward Dansereau. Each count of the indictment alleges Martin acted “alone or in complicity with others or another.”