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Thread: Jeremy J. Demar Sentenced to LWOP in 2017 KY Slayings of Spc. Priscilla A. East and Sgt. Christopher R. Hoch

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  1. #1
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Jeremy J. Demar Sentenced to LWOP in 2017 KY Slayings of Spc. Priscilla A. East and Sgt. Christopher R. Hoch


    Spc. Priscilla A. East


    Sgt. Christopher R. Hoch




    February 8, 2017

    Fort Campbell soldier died protecting his fiancee's best friend

    By Meghann Myers
    The Army Times

    When news broke that two soldiers had been killed in an off-post home near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, early reports left out the third adult in the house that night.

    Spc. Dominique House had invited her best friend and fellow 101st Airborne Division soldier Spc. Priscilla East over for dinner with her and her fiance after East called and said she didn't feel safe going home after an argument with her estranged husband.

    But East's husband, Jeremy Demar, showed up at House's residence, House told Army Times in a Tuesday phone interview. Demar is accused of shooting his way into the home and killing House's fiancee, Spc. Christopher Hoch, 28, and East, 32.

    "It's been a lot survivor's guilt, I guess you could say," she said. "And then reading articles -- I don't know why the police didn't mention my name."

    "It feels impossible to live life without them right now," she added.

    East had split from her husband in May of last year, House said, and had been plagued by his violence and threats ever since. She filed for a temporary protection order and got it, but by late 2016, a judge had decided not to make the order permanent, according to court documents obtained by the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle.

    "He would stalk her outside her home, and she took video of it," House said. "She gave it to the police, and they didn't do anything about it. And they didn't believe her that he was going to kill her."

    A spokeswoman for the 101st Airborne Division declined to confirm details of the situation, citing the ongoing investigation by local law enforcement.

    "As such, there are a lot of questions that center around the details of what happened and why it happened that we would not be able to address while the incident is under investigation," Lt. Col. Chevelle Thomas said.

    Officials with the Kentucky State Police, which is leading the investigation, on Wednesday said they did not have an update to release to the media or public.

    Not a love triangle

    Despite her concerns, East and her husband still continued to see each other regularly, House said, to exchange custody of their 2-year-old son. It was during one of those meetings on Feb. 2 that Demar -- who had been threatening to kill East but also begging her to take him back, House said -- started another argument with East.

    "She sped off, and I think that's what made him mad," House said.

    Later that night, Demar showed up at the Oak Grove home that House shared with Hoch and her teenage brother.

    "We heard him rev the engine outside, and we just expected him to bang on the door, make some noise," House said. "We never expected him to actually have a gun."

    House, Hoch and House's brother watched Demar from the front bedroom window.

    "You just see him pacing back and forth, and then you hearing him kicking the door," House said.

    Hoch grabbed a baseball bat, she said.

    "Then we hear gunshots at the door, to weaken the lock," she said. "He just came in."

    Hoch swung the bat and Demar shot him.

    "Then he came after me, but his gun was empty," House said. "So when he was reloading, my brother tackled him, and that's when I ran out of the house."

    House ran to a neighbor's to call 911.

    "And then I just heard Priscilla scream, and then he left," she said. "He just walked out of the house."

    House was frustrated with law enforcement, she said, both for denying her friend's pleas for protection and for not responding to the shooting more quickly.

    "The ambulance took forever to get there. The dispatcher heard the gunshots and, I mean, I called them back and they just sounded like they didn't care," she said. "It was probably the worst experience of my life, and they didn't care. It was just something that they had to do."

    She's also upset, she said, that the police didn't mention her in their statements.

    "But I feel like this whole story got skewed toward, it was a love triangle. And that's not what happened at all," she said.

    And Facebook comments on the stories made it worse.

    "Just a lot of the, 'Oh, they deserved it,' comments," she said. "That's why I decided to speak out. I wasn't going to sit here and just let people run their names through the mud, when they have no idea what actually happened that night."

    Now House is in Hoch's Michigan hometown with his family. The infantryman had returned from an Iraq deployment four days before he was killed, and had asked House to marry him just a day earlier.

    "We had started to plan our wedding up in Michigan, and now I'm in Michigan planning his funeral," she said.

    Demar is being held in Montgomery Count Jail on charges of murder, murder-domestic violence, burglary and assault, according to police.

    https://www.armytimes.com/articles/f...es-best-friend

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    April 13, 2017

    Man pleads not guilty in killing of 2 soldiers

    HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man charged with killing two Fort Campbell soldiers has pleaded not guilty.

    The Kentucky New Era reports 35-year-old Jeremy J. Demar was arraigned Wednesday. He is charged with the murders of Spc. Priscilla A. East, his estranged wife, and Sgt. Christopher R. Hoch. Demar is also charged with one count of attempted murder, first-degree burglary and fourth-degree assault.

    East and Hoch were shot on Feb. 2. Demar is also accused of putting a gun to resident Dominique House's head and assaulting her 16-year-old brother.

    House told Army Times in February that East, her best friend, had been hiding out at her home that night following an argument with Demar.

    Their two-year-old son was in Demar's car outside the home during the incident.

    Defense counsel Brandi Jones asked for an extension of the first pre-trial conference given the nature of the charges. Judge John Atkins has set it for July 19 and says he expects "meaningful progress."

    https://www.armytimes.com/articles/m...-of-2-soldiers

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    Death penalty sought for accused soldier killer

    By Melissa Pettitt
    The New Era

    A Clarksville man accused in a double homicide of two Fort Campbell soldiers could face the death penalty if convicted.

    Notice was filed in May to seek capital punishment against Jeremy J. Demar, 36, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Lynn Pyror.

    http://www.kentuckynewera.com/news/c...c9949364c.html

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    Senior Member CnCP Addict one_two_bomb's Avatar
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    I went to high school with Chris and knew him. I'm a little late but I'm glad they're seeking the DP against this turd.

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Alleged soldier killer set for hearing

    The Eagle Post

    A motion hearing was scheduled during a pretrial conference Wednesday for a man accused of killing two Fort Campbell soldiers in 2017.

    The motion hearing will be 9 a.m. Aug. 14 in Judge John Atkins’ courtroom, in which the court will hear several motions filed by the defense.

    Jeremy J. Demar, 35, Clarksville, is accused of shooting and killing his ex-wife, Spc. Priscilla A. East, 32, Missouri City, Texas, and Spc. Christopher R. Hoch, 28, Ferndale, Michigan.

    Co-defense attorneys Clay Beineke and Audrey Woosnam filed several motions prior to the pretrial conference Wednesday.

    Beineke and Woosnam filed a motion to declare the death penalty unconstitutional, in which the court will consider if the death penalty is constitutional in this case.

    They also filed several motions concerning evidence for the case. One motion asked to suppress gunshot residue. Another motion was to turn over evidence gained from investigating the cell phones taken in this case. Lastly, the defense filed a motion for the commonwealth to turn over any new evidence it discovered.

    A trial date was set at the last pretrial conference and will be May 20.

    Demar is accused of kicking in the door of a home on Arkansas Avenue in Oak Grove, where East was visiting with a friend and her husband.

    According to court documents, Oak Grove police officers received a call Feb. 2, 2017, regarding an active shooter at the home. The resident of the home, Spc. Dominique House, told police East was visiting House and Hoch, as well as House’s 16-year-old brother, when Demar showed up at the home. House said they did not grant him access due to ongoing domestic violence issues between Demar and East.

    Demar then fired several shots, shooting the door knob off the front door and kicked the door in, the documents stated. Hoch reportedly told the others to run and hide, then proceeded to get a bat to confront Demar before Hoch was shot to death.

    House was able to escape the home, however East was found shot to death in a bedroom. Hoch’s teen brother was reportedly struck in the head by Demar and later transported to the hospital for his injuries. The indictment also indicates Demar held a gun to House’s head and pulled the trigger.

    The 2-year-old child of Demar and East is believed to be in the car outside of the house during the chain of events. Demar was found at his home on the 200 block of Pin Oak Drive in Clarksville.

    http://www.kentuckynewera.com/ep/new...690db54d2.html

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Soldier murder case recessed

    Demar, accused of killing 2 service members, will return to court in October

    By Avery Seeger
    Hopkinsville Kentucky New Era

    A motion hearing was held Tuesday morning in Judge John Atkins’ courtroom for the double soldier murder case.

    However, the hearing was recessed and is scheduled to continue Oct. 11 at 9 a.m.

    Jeremy J. Demar, 35, Clarksville, is accused of shooting and killing his ex-wife, Spc. Priscilla A. East, 32, Missouri City, Texas, and Spc. Christopher R. Hoch, 28, Ferndale, Michigan, on Feb. 2 and putting a gun to the head of Spc. Dominique House and assaulted the 16-year-old brother of House.

    According to New Era archives and court documents, Oak Grove police officers received a call Feb. 2 regarding an active shooter on the 200 block of Arkansas Avenue. The resident of the home, Spc. Dominique House, told police East was visiting House and Hoch, as well as House’s 16-year-old brother, when Demar showed up at the home.

    House said they did not grant him access due to ongoing domestic violence issues between Demar and East. Demar then fired several shots, shooting the door knob off the front door and kicked the door in. Hoch reportedly told the others to run and hide, the proceeded to get a bat to confront Demar before he was shot to death.

    House was able to escape the home, however East was found shot to death in a bedroom and Hoch’s brother was reported struck in the head by Demar and later transported to the hospital for his injuries.

    Demar’s defense attorneys Audrey Woosnam and Clay Beineke filed several motions that were heard by Judge Atkins Tuesday morning.

    Woosnam and Beineke filed several motions in which the defense asked to declare the death penalty unconstitutional and to exclude the death penalty in this case.

    Woosnam argued that the death penalty violated Demar’s eighth amendment rights as she considered it to be cruel and unusual punishment. She also detailed the death penalty has been declining in its imposition and use in Kentucky, deeming it to be “unethical” in “today’s evolving standards of decency.”

    The Commonwealth’s Prosecuting Attorney Lynn Pryor argued that the death penalty has been deemed constitutional several times by the Supreme Court and as such should not be considered unconstitutional in this particular case.

    Pryor also argued that Demar is accused of killing two people and assaulting another and having the death penalty as an option for jury is not cruel and unusual punishment but instead, that it is fair should the jury decide to impose it as a sentence.

    Judge Atkins ultimately sided and agreed with Pryor, denying the defense’s motion. Judge Atkins stated that until the Supreme Court or Kentucky declares the death penalty unconstitutional, that he won’t deem it unconstitutional and won’t exclude as a sentencing option for the jury.

    The defense then moved on for a motion for the commonwealth to pass on phone evidence downloaded by detectives in the case to the defense.

    Pryor described that the evidence had not yet been passed on to the defense due to detectives not having a big enough storage device to house the data. Pryor asked that the defense provide detectives with a drive and they will pass on the downloaded phone evidence.

    Judge Atkins granted the motion to have the prosecution pass on the phone evidence to the defense for the jury trial.

    The defense moved on to a motion they filed to suppress gunshot residue (GSR) taken during the investigation of the case, claiming that the GSR was taken without a warrant to search.

    Pryor first gave her argument to keep the GSR in the case for trial. She claimed the taking of GSR was not considered to be an unreasonable search as two people had killed and a suspect had yet to be arrested at the time.

    Pryor also argued that the swabbing for GSR was of legitimate government interest, that it did not violate Demar’s Miranda rights as those only pertain to verbal statements and that Demar’s privacy was not violated or intruded upon.

    Woosnam shared with Judge Atkins that she had not received Pryor’s written argument until late Monday night and did not have efficient time to respond in court. Judge Atkins ultimately granted the defense additional time to craft their written response to the commonwealth’s argument, also allowing for additional time for Pryor to add more to her argument.

    The defense has until Sept. 7 to admit their written argument while the commonwealth has until Aug. 28 to add any more points to their argument.

    The hearing will be recessed until another motion hearing set for Oct. 11. The jury trial was set at a previous pretrial conference and is still set for May 20, 2019.

    http://www.kentuckynewera.com/ep/new...fc1510641.html
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