Penalty phase of Edwards’ trial delayed
The penalty phase of Mark D. Edwards’ trial will be postponed until at least Friday. After a brief court appearance Tuesday before Fayette County Judge John F. Wagner Jr., attorneys agreed to postpone the hearing to determine if Edwards should get life in prison or be subject to a lethal injection.
The 21-year-old South Union Township man was convicted last week of three counts of first-degree murder in the April 14, 2002, deaths of Larry Bobish Sr., 50; Joanna Bobish, 42; and Krystal Bobish, 17. Jurors also found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Krystal Bobish’s unborn son, who was 28 weeks in gestational age.
Edwards was also convicted of attempted homicide for shooting and then cutting the throat of Larry Bobish Jr., burglary and arson. Edwards set the Bobish’s Kennedy Street Extension, North Union Township, home ablaze after he shot the family members.
Jurors have yet to reconvene to hear testimony in the penalty phase of the trial. In that phase they will hear both aggravating and mitigating circumstances and weigh them to determine Edwards’ fate.
During the court appearance, District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon indicated that Larry Bobish Jr., who testified that Edwards killed his family members and seriously injured him, could testify that he saw his father sell Edwards drugs in the year before he was killed.
Vernon needs to have testimony that Edwards bought drugs from the elder Bobish to use that as one of the potentially aggravating factors in the penalty phase of the trial. Larry Bobish Jr., Vernon said, saw his father sell Edwards the drug “wet” (embalming fluid) on at least two occasions.
The youngster, now 14, could also testify that Edwards was a regular visitor to the Bobish home in the year his father sold drugs. Larry Bobish Jr. previously testified that his father sold drugs to support the addiction of his mother and sister.
Wagner, however, said prosecutors need to be able to show the jury how Larry Bobish Jr. knows what “wet” is.
“We’re not born with knowledge of what ‘wet’ is,” Wagner said. “At some time during his life, (Bobish Jr.) has to learn what ‘wet’ is. …You don’t just know that. You have to learn that somehow.”
Attorney Dianne Zerega, appointed by the court to represent Edwards, objected to the use of Larry Bobish Jr.’s testimony if Vernon could not establish how he knew what the drug was.
Although Vernon could also call Jeffrey Johnson to corroborate the drug connection between Larry Bobish Sr. and Edwards, she said it’s doubtful she will. Edwards testified he and Johnson robbed the Bobishes of several vials of “wet’ two days before they were killed. Police contended that Edwards killed the family two days later to avoid being arrested for robbery.
Johnson, who has an unrelated attempted homicide case pending, does not have to testify about the robbery even though he cannot be prosecuted because all of the victims are dead, Vernon said.
She said she attempted to get in contact with Johnson’s attorney, Jeffrey Proden, so she could talk to him on Monday, but Proden is on vacation.
“I believe that the better testimony would come from Larry Bobish Jr., who knew his father sold those drugs, that Mark Duane Edwards was a frequent customer and that his mother and sister were addicted to those drugs,” Vernon said.
Vernon declined to say if the delay of the penalty phase – originally scheduled to begin this morning – had anything to do with further attempts to talk to Johnson.