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May 1, 2008 7:59 pm US/Eastern
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Young Greene Co. Murder Victim's Parents Testify
WAYNESBURG (KDKA) ―
The parents of a 12-year-old girl who was strangled to death nearly two years ago in Greene County testified in the trial of the man accused taking her life.
Gabrielle Bechen disappeared in June of 2006. Prosecutors say Jeffrey Martin buried her, along with her ATV, shoes and helmet on a horse farm.
Investigators wheeled Bechen's ATV into the courtroom. Her parents were in tears as they looked at her picture and wondered what they could have done differently the day she disappeared.
"If only I would have stayed awake instead of falling back asleep. I could have asked her why she left so early," Blanche Bechen, the victim's mother, told the court.
Her father, Chris Bechen, recalled what happened the day he looked for his daughter when she was reported missing. He had an encounter with Martin.
"Martin pulled up and asked what I was doing. I said, 'I was looking for Gabby,' and he said he hadn't seen her all day," Bechen said.
In opening statements, the prosecution alleged that Martin said in his confession that Gabrielle told him that she was going to tell her parents that he molested her and so he chased her down and strangled her.
But the defense reminded the jury, "the law commands you presume he is innocent." They are also expected to argue that the alleged confession was coerced.
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