Martin’s death sentence affirmed
Jeffrey Robert Martin is led out of court during a hearing in 2008 in the murder of 12-year old Gabby Bechen.
Gabrielle Miranda Bechen, 12, was murdered by Jeffrey Robert Martin in June 2006.
The state Supreme Court Wednesday affirmed the verdict and death sentence of Jeffrey Robert Martin, who was convicted by a Greene County jury six years ago of the rape and murder of a 12-year-old Greensboro girl.
Martin, 57, of New Geneva raped and strangled Gabrielle Miranda Bechen June 13, 2006, when she left her home to visit a nearby horse farm where he worked as a farmhand. Martin used a backhoe to dig a grave, where he placed her body, and hid her all-terrain vehicle and belongings elsewhere on the farm.
Searchers looked for Bechen for five days before two volunteers found the girl’s ATV buried in manure. That discovery led to Martin’s arrest and his eventual confession to the killing.
First Assistant District Attorney Linda Chambers, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Wednesday she was pleased with the court’s decision.
“It was surprising how long it took the Supreme Court to make a decision on a case I believe was clear cut,” she said. Chambers noted the court held oral argument on the case more than two years ago, in April 2012.
Martin’s attorney, public defender Harry Cancelmi, could not be reached for comment.
On May 9, 2008, following a six-day trial, Martin was found guilty on all counts, including first-degree murder, rape and aggravated indecent assault. During his trial, Martin took the stand to recant his confession. He claimed another man was responsible for the girl’s death.
The following day it took jurors less than an hour to decide Martin should be put to death for the crime.
Before a death penalty sentence can be rendered, the prosecution must prove at least one aggravating circumstance. In Martin’s case, the commonwealth alleged two aggravating circumstances: that Martin killed Bechen during the course of raping her, and Martin killed the girl to keep her quiet about the sexual assault.
The jury determined both aggravating circumstances were proven.
Jurors also considered various mitigating circumstances raised by the defense. According to testimony, Martin grew up in a chaotic household rife with alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Martin also was determined to be borderline mentally disabled.
The Supreme Court opinion was written by Justice Seamus McCaffery and joined by four other justices. Justice Thomas G. Saylor filed a dissenting opinion.
In his appeal, Martin questioned whether evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdict for the charges of rape and sexual assault. He argued because there was insufficient evidence to prove the killing was committed during the perpetration of these crimes, the jury considered non-existing aggravated circumstances when it imposed the death sentence.
The court, however, determined sufficient evidence was presented to support the verdict. It cited testimony regarding the sexual assault presented by Dr. Cyril Wecht, who conducted the autopsy, as well as Martin’s own confession, in which he said he strangled the girl after he told her she would tell her parents he molested her.
Martin also argued his arrest was unlawful, and as a result, statements he made to police were tainted and should have been suppressed. He said police had no probable cause to arrest him. The only evidence they had against him prior to his arrest was that he worked on the farm near the missing girl, he said.
Martin was initially arrested for tampering with evidence, giving false information and hindering a police investigation when four days after Bechen’s disappearance her ATV was found buried under manure where Martin had very recently spread the material.
The court said it must focus on whether the arresting officer had relevant knowledge to conclude an offense was committed based on the “probability, and not prima facie showing, of criminal activity.”
The relevant circumstances that warranted the arrest, the court said, included Bechen’s disappearance, the inability of searchers to find her and the discovery of the ATV purposely hidden in manure, which was Martin’s duty as a farm hand to collect and spread.
These facts would lead a person “with reasonable caution” to conclude Martin was “probably involved” in the girl’s disappearance, the court said.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice Saylor, disagreed, saying he believed police lacked probable cause to arrest Martin. Others had access to the property and the instruments by which the ATV was concealed, he said.
Saylor said he did not believe there was any “reasonable inference” of Martin’s involvement with the victim or the ATV at the time that would rise to the level of probable cause to effectuate his arrest.
Martin is currently an inmate at SCI-Graterford, according to state Department of Correction web site.
Bechen, the daughter of Christopher and Blanche Bechen, would have been 20 years old this year.