Monday, December 14, 2009
Jury selection done in murder-for-hire case
PULASKI -- Jury selection has finished in a Pulaski County murder-for-hire case being heard today.
Opening arguments are expected after lunch in French David Kanode's conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of another person to commit murder case.
The charges are in connection with the killing of Dawn Lee Meredith Wright, 42, of Radford. Wright's body was found Jan. 23, 2008, off the side of a gravel road that crosses Walker Mountain in a section of Pulaski County called Bloomer's Mountain. She had been stabbed to death, officials have said.
Richard Forest Mabry of Dublin pleaded guilty to first-degree murder at a hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court in December. He is serving a prison sentence of 20 years.
Pulaski County Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Fleenor has said Mabry told police Kanode told him to kill Wright as part of an initiation into a motorcycle gang. Mabry claimed Kanode threatened to kill his family if he didn't go through with the killing, Fleenor said.
Opening arguments are expected after lunch in French David Kanode's conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of another person to commit murder case.
The charges are in connection with the killing of Dawn Lee Meredith Wright, 42, of Radford. Wright's body was found Jan. 23, 2008, off the side of a gravel road that crosses Walker Mountain in a section of Pulaski County called Bloomer's Mountain. She had been stabbed to death, officials have said.
Richard Forest Mabry of Dublin pleaded guilty to first-degree murder at a hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court in December. He is serving a prison sentence of 20 years.
Pulaski County Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Fleenor has said Mabry told police Kanode told him to kill Wright as part of an initiation into a motorcycle gang. Mabry claimed Kanode threatened to kill his family if he didn't go through with the killing, Fleenor said.
