January 2017 trial set for Fleshman on murder charge

A Holton man charged with sec­ond-degree murder in the October death of his wife will stand trial in January 2017 after pleading not guilty to the murder charge Jackson County District Court.

During an arraignment hearing on Friday morning, George E. Fleshman Jr., 66, stood silent while defense attorney J. Richard Lake of Holton entered the not guilty plea on his behalf. Fleshman also waived his right to a speedy trial after District Court Judge Norbert Marek said scheduling a trial in mid-to-late December would in­convenience the court.

Instead, Judge Marek set a five-day jury trial to begin Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, after Jackson County Attor­ney Shawna Miller said the number of witnesses expected to testify in Fleshman’s case, both for the prosecution and for the defense, would require “a solid five-day trial.” Fleshman currently remains free on bond.

Fleshman was charged in March of this year with second-degree murder following an investigation into the death of his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth Fleshman, by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. During Fleshman’s preliminary hearing in June, witnesses testified that his wife’s death was due to a ruptured spleen that reportedly could have been caused by “a blow” to her body.

Sheriff’s officers opened the in­vestigation based on what it called “suspicious circumstances” and concluded that Fleshman was a key player in the death of his wife. Fleshman was arrested in March but released on $75,000 bond in May, it was reported.

Miller said that if convicted of the charge of second-degree mur­der, a Level 2 person felony, Fleshman would receive a pre­sumptive prison sentence ranging from 109 months (eight years and one month) to 493 months (41 years and one month), depending on his criminal history.

During Friday’s hearing, Judge Marek scheduled two pre-trial mo­tion hearings based on anticipation that attorneys in the case would have “more motions than normal” in what he described as “an ex­traordi­narily serious case.”

The first pre-trial motion hear­ing, which Miller said would focus on “more complex” motions related to Fleshman’s case, was set by Judge Marek for Friday, Nov. 4 after Miller requested a 60-day window for such motions. Miller and Lake were given a filing deadline of Fri­day, Oct. 14 for motions to be heard at that time.

The judge also set a second pre-trial motion hearing for Friday, Dec. 9 for “standard motions” in­volved in the trial, reminding Miller and Lake to file “by Thanksgiving” for “a timely re­sponse” to those motions.