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Thread: Murder Trial Set for Jeremiah Martin Peacemaker in 2020 SD Murder of Kendra Owen

  1. #1
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    Murder Trial Set for Jeremiah Martin Peacemaker in 2020 SD Murder of Kendra Owen





    State has until April 30 to decide if Watertown man will face the death penalty in September 2020 murder case

    By Jody Heemstra
    drgnews.com

    A judge has granted a defense motion in the death penalty-eligible case of a Watertown man.

    A motions hearing was held recently for 41 year-old Jeremiah Martin Peacemaker, who was indicted by a Grand Jury on First Degree Murder charges in the killing of 28 year-old Kendra Owen in Watertown last fall.

    The state now has until April 30 to inform the judge and Defense Attorney Scott Bratland on whether they’ll seek the death penalty if Peacemaker is convicted.

    The only other sentencing option if convicted would be life in prison.

    Owen was found dead in her Watertown residence on September 2nd.

    Peacemaker is set to go on trial October 18th.

    https://drgnews.com/2021/04/05/state...0-murder-case/

  2. #2
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    Watertown beheading case to see trial Tuesday; suspect points finger elsewhere

    A man charged in the 2020 killing of Watertown resident Kendra Owen is set to stand trial this week, but his attorneys are prepared to tell a jury it’s possible that others may have been responsible

    By Hunter Dunteman
    Sioux-Falls Live

    WATERTOWN, S.D. — A Watertown man is set to stand trial this week in the 2020 death of 28-year-old Kendra Owen, despite his claim that another individual is ultimately responsible.

    Jeremiah Peacemaker, 44, of Watertown, is charged in Codington County with first- and second-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 20.

    The charges stem from the evening hours of Sept. 2, 2020, when police in Watertown were called to an apartment in the 300 block of North Broadway Street to conduct a welfare check. Inside, they located Owen’s body, noting she appeared to have been dead for several days.

    Though many details regarding the crime scene remain unclear — as a probable cause statement prepared by investigators sits under seal — Attorney General Marty Jackley confirmed to Sioux Falls Live this month that Owen’s body had been decapitated.

    It took police less than 24 hours from the discovery of Owen’s body to arrest Peacemaker.

    Investigators have publicly acknowledged that Peacemaker and Owen were “recent acquaintances,” but were not a couple. Court documents indicate Peacemaker admitted to being present in Owen’s apartment before her death.

    Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement took DNA samples from both Peacemaker and Owen to be tested at the South Dakota Forensic Laboratory in Pierre, alongside multiple other pieces of evidence recovered from the scene.

    According to court documents, lab results found the presence of blood on multiple items, including a towel taken from Peacemaker’s apartment. DNA analysis from the towel, however, did not match a sample taken from Owen’s body.

    Two cigarette butts were also tested for DNA. One was found to have multiple DNA profiles — and could not be narrowed down to whom the DNA belonged — while the other was found to contain none of Peacemaker’s DNA.

    One of the cigarette butts was compared to DNA of one of Owen’s former roommates, but court documents say it was not a match.

    In Owen’s car, investigators located a pair of women’s panties “encrusted” in semen. Forensic analysis found that the semen did not match Peacemaker’s DNA profile.

    Hundreds of pages of public documents reviewed by Sioux Falls Live do not make mention of whether any sort of weapon was recovered or whether it was tested for fingerprints or DNA.

    An alleged lack of DNA evidence against Peacemaker has resulted in his attorney’s argument that a third party, whose identity is unclear, may be responsible for Owen’s death.

    Court documents indicate the defense plans to introduce evidence that two of Owen’s former roommates could have committed the crime, making specific reference to the cigarette butts located by investigators.

    Neither former roommate has been charged in connection with Owen’s death.

    Tuesday’s trial is scheduled to last as long as March 8, unless a verdict is reached sooner. According to court records, more than 60 civilians, law enforcement officers and experts have been subpoenaed in the case.

    If convicted of either first- or second-degree murder, South Dakota law mandates life in prison as a minimum punishment. Prosecutors have declined to pursue the death penalty.

    Outside of the murder charge, Peacemaker is also facing three counts of simple assault across three separate criminal cases. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in a county jail.

    https://www.siouxfallslive.com/news/...nger-elsewhere
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  3. #3
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    Jury now deliberating in trial of man charged with killing Watertown woman in 2021

    By Jody Heemstra

    WATERTOWN, S.D.–Jury deliberations are underway in the Watertown murder trial of Jeremiah Martin Peacemaker.

    He’s charged with First Degree Murder in the death of 28 year-old Kendra Owen at her apartment at 307 North Broadway in Watertown.

    Owen had been stabbed 16 times before her head was cut off.

    Her decomposed body was found September 2, 2020.

    Peacemaker told Watertown police over the course of an eight hour interrogation that he met Owen at Doc’s Bar in the early morning hours of August 24, 2020 and walked her home.

    He said he had never met her before, but spent about 20 minutes in her apartment listening to music before leaving.

    He repeatedly denied killing her.

    No murder weapon was found.

    Closing arguments began with prosecutor Brent Kempema telling the jury, “science doesn’t lie, it points its finger at Jeremiah Peacemaker.”

    Kempema and Attorney General Marty Jackley used Peacemaker’s right thumb fingerprint that was found on a tube of toothpaste in Owen’s bathroom as their main piece of evidence linking him to the crime.

    Prosecutors called it a, “bloody fingerprint;” something the defense contested throughout the duration of the trial. Defense attorneys said testing on the substance was only a “presumptive test,” not confirmatory.

    Kempema said after decapitating the victim, Owen’s head was, “propped up on her bed like some sort of trophy.”

    He also spoke of Peacemaker’s sweatshirt that had Owen’s blood and DNA on it, saying, “all of the facts point to Peacemaker’s guilt.”

    Then it was the defense’s turn.

    In her closing arguments, attorney Kate Benson called it a, “complicated case.”

    She pointed out that Owen’s body did not contain any of Peacemaker’s DNA on it, even after vaginal, anal and oral swabbing was done.

    She called the investigation in this murder case a, “failure of justice that is shocking.” Benson said the case is, “full of holes, with no weapon and no motive.”

    She criticized the South Dakota Crime Lab for writing what she says were misleading reports, and the Division of Criminal Investigation for not testing numerous items found in Owen’s apartment, including blankets, Owen’s eyeglasses and a stocking cap found next to her body.

    As for the Watertown Police Department, Benson said they conducted, “a terrible investigation that didn’t even exist” by failing to document witnesses they talked to. In her words, “Kendra
    Owen deserved a better investigation.”

    Jackley gave the final words to the jury in his rebuttal telling them to, “follow the evidence.”

    He says the murder of Owen was a, “deliberate action,” and asked the jury to hold Peacemaker accountable.

    The jury has the option of finding Peacemaker guilty of First Degree Murder, Second Degree Murder or First Degree Manslaughter, or acquitting him entirely.

    https://drgnews.com/2024/03/05/grand...man-last-year/
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