Hearing to continue for 14-year-old Jenks murder suspect
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Thursday, March 14, 2013
3/14/13 at 8:39 AM
Dick Robinson returned to his Jenks home on the night of Dec. 17 to find his home in disarray and his daughter dead.
Robinson, 75, told a Tulsa County jury Wednesday that he found his daughter, Mary Escue, in a chair in his study and quickly "realized she wasn't with us anymore."
The testimony was presented during the preliminary hearing of 14-year-old Joshua Scott Mooney of Jenks, who is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and second-degree burglary.
No final ruling was made at the conclusion of Wednesday's testimony. Mooney's next court date, when the hearing is scheduled to continue, was set for May 22.
Robinson testified that Escue, 47, lived in Reno, Nev., but was visiting at the family home and was driving her parents' 2009 Chevrolet Malibu during her stay.
When he and his wife returned home on the night of Dec. 17, he noticed that the car was not parked at the house, he said. When he went inside, he discovered that weapons and some of the couple's personal belongings were strewn about the house.
"I was kind of in a state of panic," Robinson recalled.
He went through the house calling his daughter's name before finding her in the study, he testified. He tried to talk to her, he said, but quickly realized that she was dead.
Robinson said the couple and Escue didn't know Mooney, who was arrested the next day in Sapulpa.
Cody James Brummett, 19, testified Wednesday that Mooney seemed "cool as a cucumber" on Dec. 18 when he encountered him near a Sapulpa convenience store.
Brummett, who is not implicated in Escue's death, said Mooney claimed that he had access to the Chevrolet Malibu because it belonged to his grandmother. He said Mooney allowed him to drive the car and that Mooney said he didn't want a rifle that was partially wrapped in a quilt in the vehicle.
Brummett testified that he dropped off the weapon at his home and that a third person got in the car to join them in what he described as an attempt to buy marijuana.
The three were stopped by law enforcement officers before they could complete their quest, according to testimony. The homicide investigation had shifted to Sapulpa because some items taken from the Robinson home had been found discarded there, testimony revealed.
Mooney's arrest report states that he told a Tulsa County sheriff's detective that he had broken into the Jenks residence through a bathroom window and intended to look for money. But while he was in the house, Escue arrived, according to the document.
Mooney said he initially "got scared" and hid in the kitchen, holding a rifle he had found in the house, the report states.
After Escue saw him, he forced her into another room at gunpoint, "aimed the .22 caliber rifle at the victim's head and fired a shot," Mooney told the detective, the arrest report says.
Mooney said he then took the keys to the Malibu and drove to Sapulpa "because he had to get out of Tulsa County for what he had done," according to the arrest report.
The defense has filed a variety of motions in the case, including a request that the case be transferred to juvenile court.
Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he expects those motions to be taken up at the May 22 hearing. The hearing likely will also feature discussion of the results of a psychological examination and an Office of Juvenile Affairs report about Mooney, as well as the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, he said.
Original Print Headline: No ruling in Jenks murder hearing
David Harper 918-581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
A Tulsa County sheriff's deputy escorts 14-year-old Joshua Scott Mooney of Jenks into court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on a first-degree murder charge. Mooney is accused of killing a woman during a burglary. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
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