Two homicides to be tried in Fayette County Court
Two criminal homicide cases are scheduled to start this morning in Fayette County Court. Warren Bircher, 34, will stand trial in the 2000 death of an infant girl who became known as “Baby Mary.”
In a separate matter, Richard Leroy Henry Jr., 37, of Vanderbilt will go to trial in the strangling death of Eric Todd Fetsco, 38 on April 19, 2009.
Police alleged that Henry and Fetsco got into a fight at Fectsco’s apartment in Vanderbilt over past disagreements. During the fight, police alleged Henry choked Fetsco.
Judge Ralph C. Warman will hold Henry’s trial.
In the other trial, Bircher is accused of killing the baby after her mother gave birth. The infant’s body was found in a creek in North Union Township more than 10 years ago.
Bircher and the child’s mother, Sarah Sue Hawk, 26, of Uniontown, were charged in the baby’s death. Hawk was charged in 2008 after state police were able to match her DNA to that of the baby. She has pleaded guilty, and will be a prosecution witness in Bircher’s trial.
Additional evidence led to charges against Bircher.
Bircher’s attorney, Jack W. Connor, has argued in the past that there is not enough evidence to show that the baby was alive when Hawk gave birth to her.
That trial will be held before Judge John F. Wagner Jr.