Found Deceased FL - Father Rene Robert, 71, St Augustine, 10 April 2016 *Arrest*

[0101ABA]

The man accused of killing a St. Augustine priest in April pleaded not guilty Friday to malice murder in Burke County, Georgia.

Prosecutors have filed notice that they will seek the death penalty against Steven Murray in the death of Father Rene Robert.

Motions hearings in the case will begin Dec. 2, but the District Attorney's Office said it doesn't expect a trial for at least two years.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/man-accused-in-priests-murder-pleads-not-guilty

 

[0101ABA]

Update on Steven Murray Hearing

The Steven Murray defense team finally makes it back in front of a Burke County judge. In the last month, several hearings in this case had been postponed.

You may remember Murray is charged with the murder of Florida priest, Rene Robert back in March.

45, that's how many motions Steven Murray's legal team asked the judge to consider today.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Killer of murdered priest has mercy plea from his VICTIM heard after lawyers discover anti-death penalty 'Declaration of Life' the reverend wrote 20-years ago

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nlikely-spot-victim-priest.html#ixzz4XFZpqLJr

 

[YESorNO]

Bishops Urge Prosecutor to Drop Death in Priest's Killing

"Catholic church officials went to a Georgia courthouse on Tuesday to serve as the voice for a slain Florida priest as they urged a prosecutor not to seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing their colleague.

Steven James Murray faces charges including murder in the April slaying of the Rev. Rene Robert, a priest in St. Augustine, Florida, whose body was found in the Georgia woods. Prosecutors have indicated they intend to seek Murray's execution if he's convicted.

Bishop Felipe Estevez of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Bishop Gregory Hartmayer of the Diocese of Savannah and Archbishop Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Atlanta stood in front of the courthouse in Augusta, along with about a dozen other priests, and asked that Robert's opposition to capital punishment, memorialized in a "Declaration of Life" he signed, be taken into consideration.

"I request that the person found guilty of homicide for my killing not be subject to or put in jeopardy of the death penalty under any circumstances, no matter how heinous their crime or how much I may have suffered," states the document Robert signed in 1995, notarized and witnessed by an attorney, that he insisted be kept in his personnel file..."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/bishops-speak-death-penalty-priests-killing-45160933
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[JusticeWillBeServed]

Slain priest Father Robert remembered one year later

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/slain-priest-father-robert-remembered-one-year-later/434465734

A St. Johns community joined for mass to remember a murdered priest described as persistently selfless.

Father Rene Robert of San Sebastian Catholic Church in St. Augustine was killed in April 2016. Authorities arrested Steve Murray in connection with the murder, a man the priest was trying to help get back on his feet.

One year later, San Sebastian priest Father John Gillespie said the memorial mass is a chance to assess the wounds left by Robert's passing.

"We're gathering to check on each other, to make sure we're doing ok," Gillespie said. "We're doing well, we still laugh about the strange and funny things Rene did. Generally we tell people don't do what Rene did, but admire what he did and hold the values he lived by try to incarnate them in your own life."

While the community says they are hoping to heal their own wounds while also hoping the justice system will spare a murderer's life.

Many close to Robert have petitioned and rallied for Georgia prosecutors to take the death penalty off the table for Murray.

"Why spend $4 million trying to put someone to death?" Gillespie said. "[Murray] can be confined, he can be kept from harming anybody. Maybe his life will come to have some meaning."

Murray pleaded not guilty to murder in September. A trial date has not been set and prosecutors have maintained that they will be seeking the death penalty.

 

[0101ABA]

St. Augustine priest killer expected to plead to avoid death penalty

A disturbed Jacksonville transplant who admitted he abducted and killed 71-year-old Father Rene Robert last year is expected to plead guilty this month, effectively avoiding trial and taking the death penalty off the table.

(...)

According to the statement from the diocese, Murray agreed to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. A sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 18 in Waynesboro, Ga., according to court records.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

It’s life in prison for St. Augustine priest’s tormented killer

During an emotional 45-minute proceeding Wednesday at the Burke County Courthouse in Waynesboro, Murray agreed to waive his right to a trial and any sort of appeal when he pleaded guilty to murder and an assortment of charges related to Robert’s death.

Judge James Blanchard admonished Murray by saying Robert was a man of honorable characteristics, faith and goodness — traits Murray doesn’t bare.

“Father Rene Robert,” the judge said, “is speaking from the grave and asking that you be given another chance.” The judge then encouraged Murray to find religion and hope for salvation as he hinted at hell because mercy, he suggested, wasn’t a guarantee.

http://wjbf.com/2017/10/18/accused-killer-steven-murray-enters-guilty-plea/

Before Murray was handed down his sentence, he addressed the court.

“I’d like to apologize to friends and family of father Rene and I know they’re looking for answers as to why and what happened but I can’t give no answers. All I can say is that I’m sorry and I didn’t mean to do it. And I ask for forgiveness as father Rene has already forgiven me. To my family, I love ya’ll and I hope everyone finds peace with this,” said Murray.

Father Robert’s nephew says he’s not sure if his family can ever truly forgive the man who took Father Robert’s life.

“He’ll have to think about it every single day and I hope he does for the rest of his life. I hope he loses sleep over it every single night,” said Father Robert’s nephew Shaun McAndrews.

 

[margarita25]

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Murdered-priest-signed-document-against-death-8350811.php

Wow...