The killing of Justine Swartz Abshire
Events that began on the evening of November 2, 2006 led to the death of a kindergarten teacher on a lonely road near Barboursville. It was case that was initially described as a hit-and-run.
For months, investigators declined to say what they had long suspected, that the death of the 27-year-old was no accident. As the family of the victim moved toward a civil suit against the person they believed responsible for the killing, police assembled the pieces of what turned out, controversially, to be an almost completely circumstantial case. But it was a case that convinced a jury, and when it was over, a juror revealed that they were "110 percent sure" of their work.
Five years after the death of Justine Swartz Abshire, her husband, Eric, was convicted of first-degree murder.
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Life behind bars: Eric Abshire defiant at sentencingPublished on Jan 13th, 2012After declaring his love for his late wife and his innocence in her death, a defiant Eric Abshire, convicted in October of killing Justine Swartz Abshire, spoke aloud in...read more |
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'110 percent sure': Jurors say no doubt in Abshire's guiltPublished on Oct 31st, 2011"There's a verdict!" The cry at the Orange County Circuit Court at around 4:20pm on Tuesday, October 25 brought family and friends of the late Justine Swartz Abshire racing...read more |
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Jury: He did it. Abshire murder trialPublished on Oct 25th, 2011As the jury weighed its decision in the first-degree murder trial of the Greene County dump truck driver accused of killing his wife for a $1.5 million in insurance payout in...read more |
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Trial set: Eric Abshire pleads not guilty to wife killingPublished on Mar 3rd, 2011The Greene County man accused of killing his wife and staging her death as an automotive hit-and-run pleaded not guilty to first degree murder at his arraignment Thursday,...read more |
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History of strangulation? Abshire denied bond after allegations of violent pastPublished on Feb 10th, 2011Although his court-appointed attorney argued that his client poses neither flight risk nor danger to the community, accused wife-killer Eric Abshire will remain behind bars...read more |
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No bail: Abshire pleads poverty in first court appearancePublished on Jan 7th, 2011Eric Abshire made his first court appearance Thursday in the Orange County Circuit Court. Inset: Abshire at a November 3, 2007 vigil for Justine. PHOTO BY COURTENEY STUART/...read more |
| Breaking news: Eric Abshire arrestedPublished on Dec 17th, 2010Eric Abshire and Justine Swartz Abshire on their wedding day in May 2006. She would be dead less than six months later. PHOTO COURTESY SWARTZ FAMILY Eric Abshire will spend...read more | |
| Painful puzzle: Abshire talks about the fatal nightPublished on Aug 14th, 2008 ABC NEWS It was first considered a tragic but straight-forward incident of hit and run on a winding, moonlit country road in Barboursville. But the 2006 death of Justine...read more | |
| Closing in? Foul play now cited in Abshire deathPublished on Mar 6th, 2008 Grief over the death of their daughter is compounded by the pain of not knowing how she died, says Steve Swartz, seen here dancing with Justine at her wedding on May...read more | |
| COVER-Justice for Justine: Investigation 'very active' in hit and runPublished on Jun 7th, 2007 In May, Justine Swartz Abshire's parents increased the award for information leading to an arrest in her death from $10,000 to $50,000. From Charlottesville, the path...read more |