Monica signed card, 'from sweetest murderer' - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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2015-08-17

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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation  |  Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED   » NEWS NOW   Grants Pass boy dies after raft capsizes on Rogue River       ...       Murders at Crater Lake: The slaying of auto-parts reps in 1952 remains a mystery       ...       Our View: Law lets lobbyists keep public in the dark       ...       Grants Pass boy dies after raft capsizes on Rogue River       ...       Murders at Crater Lake: The slaying of auto-parts reps in 1952 remains a mystery       ...       Our View: Law lets lobbyists keep public in the dark       ...           DOUBLE MURDER TRIAL Monica signed card, 'from sweetest murderer' Jurors hear from inmate, victim's son Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 20, 2015 at 12:13 PM Updated Apr 20, 2015 at 10:34 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 20, 2015 at 12:13 PM Updated Apr 20, 2015 at 10:34 PM »  RELATED CONTENT • Monica on the stand: 'I generally shoot my animals more than once'... • Serial killer Susan Monica found guilty on all charges, gets 50 years... • Monica claims she never acted on murderous thoughts • Argument over stolen guns led to first shooting, Monica says • Monica told police she shot victims, let pigs feed on them • Susan Monica's confession tapes reveal gory details, show changing stories... »  Social News A Jackson County Jail inmate says accused serial killer Susan Monica confided in early April that she shot victim Robert Haney with a shotgun and fed him to her pigs, then just days after the claim signed the inmate's birthday card, "from the sweetest murderer in Jackson County." "I got chills from the birthday card," said inmate Jordan "Janae" Farris, 23, an 11th-hour witness who testified today about the April 9 birthday card during Monica's double-murder trial. Monica's note said, "Happy birthday from the sweetest murderer in Jackson County, Susan Monica." "I don't think anybody innocent of killing people would write something like that," Farris said. Farris' testimony came this afternoon after Veronica Vance, the Oregon State Police's forensic anthropologist, testified that both of Haney's legs were chopped off with a hatchet or an ax along the upper thigh in what amounted to the first testimony about dismemberment since the trial began April 21. Vance said Haney's femurs showed signs of superficial gnawing by animals and that the legs had to be stationary when the severing blows were struck. However, Vance testified she could not determine whether the blows were struck before or after Haney died. Vance also testified that Monica's first alleged victim, 59-year-old friend Stephen Delicino, suffered at least three and possibly four gunshot wounds to his skull but there was no evidence one way or the other that the gunshots were fired in self-defense. Monica is charged with the murder and abuse of a corpse of both Delicino and Haney, a 56-year-old handyman who lived on her property in summer 2013. Monica has told investigators she discovered Haney one night disemboweled and being eaten by her pigs a month after he disappeared, and that she shot him in the head with a rifle to ease his suffering. She later questioned whether he was alive when she shot. Monica told investigators she shot Delicino in self-defense sometime in summer 2012 and claimed he was eaten by her pigs before she buried his remains on her 20-acre farm off West Evans Creek Road. Haney's remains were found in plastic bags stashed in Monica's barn. Farris testified she first met Monica when they were in the same group of cells in July 2014. Monica told her primarily the same self-defense story about Delicino's death that she told investigators. However, Farris testified that Monica said she had control of the guns involved during the argument. Farris, who is currently serving a probation-violation sentence for a past burglary conviction, said she again found herself in Monica's cell group in March. During the first week of April, Monica told Farris in jail that she shot Haney with a shotgun during an argument when she tried to evict him from the property, then fed him to her pigs, Farris testified. Farris informed investigators about her claims Thursday through a jailer and was interviewed Friday by sheriff's Detective Eric Henderson, the lead investigator in the case. Henderson also took the stand today, showing the jury copies of receipts Monica received when she pawned a 12-gauge shotgun on Jan. 2, 2014 — the day after she was first telephoned regarding Haney's disappearance. She also pawned a second 12-gauge shotgun at the same Grants Pass pawn shop less than five hours after Henderson interviewed her about Haney on Jan. 6, 2014, during a visit to Monica's farm, Henderson testified. This afternoon's testimony from Farris is the first time shotguns have come into the prosecution's case. Prosecutors said they will wrap up their case Tuesday morning. Defense attorney Garren Pedemonte said he was prepared to call a defense witness late Tuesday morning, but he did not indicate whether it would be Monica. Pedemonte has called the pigs' involvement a gruesome "distraction" in the case, and he maintained in his opening statement that there is no concrete evidence to refute the self-defense claim in Delicino's death or prove whether Haney was actually alive when Monica shot him. Today's testimony began with Haney's family members casting doubt on Monica's story that Haney left her farm in September 2013 to seek work in Ashland, saying he never would have willingly left his precious belongings behind. Jesse Haney testified that after he lost contact with his father for about two months in late 2013, he went to Monica's farm in search of answers but found only questions about his father's disappearance. "It looked like he never left," Jesse Haney told the jury. Monica has told investigators that she saw Robert Haney as a passenger in a white sedan presumably headed for work in Ashland in late summer 2013. A month later she said she found him near death while being eaten by her pigs in their pen. Jesse Haney said in court today that he was alarmed to find that his father presumably had left behind his companion dog, the leather jacket that he wore almost daily, his motorcycle and his pickup. "It would never happen," Jesse Haney said. The greatest alarm, however, was discovering his father's tools were still on the farm, Jesse Haney testified. As a construction worker and handyman, Robert Haney never would have left his tools behind, his son said. "That was, basically, his life," he said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 20, 2015 at 12:13 PM Updated Apr 20, 2015 at 10:34 PM » Comment or view comments   Reader Reaction »  STAY INFORMED   Email NewsLetter   Sign Up Today   Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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