N.C. Man Goes On Trial In Death Of Pregnant Girlfriend
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POSTED: 1:22 pm EST March 27, 2005
UPDATED: 1:33 pm EST March 27, 2005
GRAHAM, N.C. -- The trial begins Monday for an Alamance County man accused
of killing his pregnant girlfriend and stuffing her dismembered body in a
trash can.
April Renee Greer, 20, was more than seven months pregnant when she
disappeared around Valentine's Day in 2003. Greer's longtime boyfriend,
Jerry Lynn Stuart Jr., later said that she moved out of the Burlington
apartment they had shared and dropped out of sight.
Her mother eventually reported her missing. Greer's whereabouts remained a
mystery for 10 weeks.
Then, after a rainstorm on April 21, 2003, a farmer found a plastic trash
can washed up in a debris pile near a Mebane creek. Inside was Greer's
dismembered body.
Less than 48 hours later, Stuart was charged with her murder. He was not
charged in the death of the fetus because killing a fetus is not illegal
under state law.
A police affidavit claims that Stuart admitted to investigators that he had
disposed of Greer's body on Valentine's Day. But it doesn't mention whether
he admitted to a role in her death.
"I'm to the point now where I'm almost able to talk about this without
getting emotional," said Greer's mother, Linda Bartlett Greer, who lives in
Florida. "Now it will open everything up again. It will be very traumatic.
If it could have happened a year ago, I could be on my way to recovery. Now
It's like going through the cycle all over again."
Greer's body was found in April 2003, the same month as that of Laci
Peterson, whose body washed up first on a northern California shoreline.
Seven days later, Greer's was found stuffed in a trash can that emerged from
the creek.
But while Peterson's husband, Scott, has been tried, convicted and sentenced
to death, Greer's family still awaits closure. Stuart's trial was postponed
twice because of conflicts in the schedule of one of his lawyers.
Investigators believe Greer was killed in the Burlington apartment the
couple shared, sealed in the garbage can and dumped in the countryside.
Police found bloody sheets and clothing in the apartment. An autopsy report
indicated that Greer died of a loss of blood when her throat was cut.
Authorities have never divulged what they think a motive was in her death.
Family members, friends and court records depict the three-year relationship
between Greer and Stuart as growing increasingly violent. On one occasion,
police arrested both for stabbing each other with scissors, according to
court records.
Devon Baken, who lived with the couple for two months, has said they fought
over everything from finances to how to spell the name they planned to give
the baby -- Heaven Leigh.
The night she disappeared, Greer told Baken via computer instant messaging
that she didn't know if Stuart was the baby's father and that she was trying
to find a way to tell him, Baken has said.
Stuart' estranged wife, Emily Ann Stuart, said her husband was humorous and
dependable and a loving father to their young girl and boy. The couple, who
separated in 1999, have not yet divorced.
"I think it's important that the public has the other side of Jerry besides
all the negativity," said Emily Ann Stuart, who visits Jerry Stuart in jail.
"He was really, really good to me for many years."
The trial was tentatively scheduled for October 2004 but was pushed back to
Jan. 3, 2005, after one of Stuart's two state appointed attorneys had a
conflict in the fall. The lawyer, Kirk Osborn of Chapel Hill, was in
Cumberland County defending Michelle Theer, who was accused of killing her
husband, an Air Force captain.
After the high-profile, 13-week trial concluded in December, Osborn asked
for a continuance in Stuart's trial, citing mental exhaustion and a lack of
time to prepare for Stuart's case.
Though a Superior Court judge denied the request, the state Supreme Court
overturned the decision, ordering the case to be continued for at least 90
days.
Jury selection, which starts Monday in Alamance County Superior Court in
Graham, is expected to last at least a week, and the trial is expected to
last about two months. Jerry Stuart faces life in prison or the death
penalty if convicted.
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