Sunday, March 23, 2008
LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — Lawyers for a man accused of fatally stabbing his wife and killing his four children by setting the family’s house on fire asked a judge to move the trial, saying extensive media coverage has compromised the jury pool.
Michel Veillette can’t get a fair trial unless proceedings are moved to a different county, defense attorneys said in motions filed Wednesday in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
The defense team also asked Judge James Heath to ban jail employees and even inmates from talking to Veillette about the case unless his lawyers are present.
“Jail personnel, officers and inmates may attempt to obtain information from [Veillette] in the hopes of assisting the State in its case,” the motion said.
Other motions include a request to keep reporters out of any pretrial hearings where evidence is discussed, which would control the release of information that might influence prospective jurors, wrote defense attorneys Greg Howard and Tim McKenna.
A message seeking comment was left Saturday with Warren County prosecutor Rachel Hutzel.
A court hearing was scheduled for Tuesday.
Veillette, 34, a native of Canada, remains in jail without bond. He has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of aggravated murder and two counts of aggravated arson. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that Veillette and his wife fought when he returned home from a business trip Jan. 11, that he stabbed her and then set fire to the couple’s home in an upscale neighborhood in Mason, about 20 miles northeast of Cincinnati.
Veillette’s wife, Nadya Ferrari-Veillette, 33, was found stabbed to death in their burned home along with the bodies of their children, Marguerite, 8, Vincent, 4, and twins Jacob and Mia, 2. All the children died of smoke inhalation.
In a February interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer, Veillette told the newspaper that he killed his wife after she attacked him with a knife and a frying pan. She started the fire with gasoline before the assault and he tried to save the children, he said.