Parolee faces murder charge in death of girl’s mother in Tenn.

A young girl who told police her father forced her to help as he cut up her mother’s body with an electric saw said she could only look away when the head fell to the floor.

The girl is the chief witness against James Hawkins, 31, a prison parolee charged with first-degree murder in the death of Charlene Gaither, 28, a longtime companion with whom he had three children. His trial is scheduled for September and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The defense’s main, um, defense seems to be an attempt to argue that the defendant’s admission that he dumped the body can not be used as an official statement.

No guns involved.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Crime and Violence, Legal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.