Jerae James Update

Murder trial begins in Jerae James death

Published: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:25 AM CDT
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James

Darrell Todd Maurina

Opening arguments began Monday in the first of three murder trials for three men, all former soldiers in the 5th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, who are accused of killing a pregnant Waynesville High School student by stuffing her in her car trunk and setting the car on fire.

Luther Martin has been held for several years on first-degree murder charges in the death of Jerae James on Oct. 7, 2001. Within the past year, Stephen V. Ragas, 23, and Donald Robinson, 26, have also been charged with causing the death of 17-year-old Jerae Nicole James and her unborn baby in October 2001 by setting James' car on fire.

Ragas and Robinson will face trial at a later date.

Robert J. Ahsens III, an assistant attorney general with the state of Missouri, opened his arguments Monday morning by recounting the history of the case and what the jurors could expect to hear in upcoming testimony.

"The defendant picked Jerae James up, put her in the trunk of her own car, set the car on fire, and the smoke from that fire killed her," Ahsens said.

Ahsens said Jerae had received a blow to the head that may or may not have rendered her unconscious and was found with her wrists bound and ankles bound. Her trachea was found full of soot and ash, an indication that she was breathing and alive at the time her car was set on fire.

An autopsy showed that James' blood had an 81 percent saturation level of carbon dioxide, which Ahsens said is always fatal to humans.

Martin is charged with killing not only one but two victims.

"The baby, even if it had been delivered at the time of Jerae's death, very, very likely would have survived," Martin said.

Evidence found at the scene includes Martin's fingerprints on the car, military manuals from the 5th Engineers, a military-issue glove, and a phone bill in Martin's name, Ahsens said. That evidence led police to arrest him as a suspect shortly after the death of James.

Jerae James' mother Jennie James took the stand as the state's first witness and testified that her daughter was about 7-1/2 months pregnant but had a restraining order against the child's father.

The teen was being home-schooled due to problems with her baby's father, James testified. Despite her relationship problems Jerae James was a devoted daughter, her mother said.

"Jerae was the type that she knew I was a worrier, so she was pretty punctual about calling me and telling me where she was," James said.

Her mother said she first began to worry about 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 when she woke up, found that her daughter had not returned home, and was not able to reach her by cell phone. Her mother said she drove repeatedly around local roads trying to find a wrecked car or locate her vehicle in town but was unable to do so.

Jerae James' last night of life included contact with a number of people involved in criminal activity. Her friend Jamie Robertson testified Monday that she stopped at the home of a man, spent 15 to 30 minutes inside, and sold drugs to a man at the house. Under cross-examination by Bevy Beindeik of the state public defender's office, Robertson testified that Jerae James had a "big wad of cash" but invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself when questioned about several drug-related matters. Robertson testified that neither Jerae James nor her sister Whitney James had ever mentioned Luther Martin in their conversations.

James' body was found on Oct. 9, two days after she died, by Bill Anderson, who at that time was a sheriff's deputy but is now in the Army civil service as a criminal investigator.

Anderson said when he saw the car in a field near the St. Robert sewage treatment plant he initially thought it belonged to a bow hunter but decided to check it more closely after noticing soot near a window. Upon investigation he decided it may have been a stolen vehicle that someone had torched.

The fire went out after it was started, Anderson testified, leaving a number of items of evidence that police later used to identify Martin.

Retired police Sgt. Ralph Roark said there was no sign of fire in the trunk but that investigators found the phone bill for Luther Martin and used it to track him down.

Roark and others testifying later in the day said the fire never reached the trunk of the car and appears to have gone out on its own.

Investigators showed graphic pictures to the jury showing a burn mark on Jerae James' thigh but indicating no further burn injuries.

Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday and could run as late as Sept. 29 in a case for which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.