March date set for Singleton murder trial

A March jury trial date has been set for the two people accused of killing, then dismembering, a Madison County woman last year.

Jason E. Singleton, 36, and Christina Marcum, 29, appeared Thursday in Madison Circuit Court for a pretrial hearing. Both are charged with murder in the death of Angela Singleton, Jason Singleton’s wife.

Marcum’s attorney, Theodore Shouse, filed a motion with the court seeking to suppress statements Marcum made to a Kentucky State Police detective during the Angela Singleton’s death investigation.

Angela Singleton was reported missing Jan. 17, 2011, by her mother. Two hours later, Angela Singleton’s empty car was discovered on fire at mile marker 101 on Interstate 75.

Angela Singleton’s dismembered body was found two days later in trash bags at the end of Tattler Branch Road in the Valley View community.

Jason Singleton was arrested Jan. 20, 2011, after an armed standoff with police in Somerset, during which he held four hostages at gunpoint. He later was sentenced to 10 years in prison for that incident.

Marcum, who had once been romantically involved with Jason Singleton, was interviewed the same day as his arrest by Kentucky State Police detectives. She allegedly told them that Singleton had “strangled Angela on Tuesday (Jan. 18, 2011),” according to court records.

Singleton’s attorneys, Jim Baechtold and Michael Eubanks, said they also would be filing pretrial motions related to the evidence in the case.

Judge William Clouse set a hearing on the motions for 10 a.m. Sept. 26.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jennifer Smith asked Clouse to set a trial date in the case. Shouse said the case would take two weeks to try, but Smith and Baechtold said they expected it to last a week.

After consulting his schedule, Shouse asked that the trial date be set for May 14.

“Why so long?” Clouse said, indicating that the request unreasonably delayed the case’s resolution.

The attorneys and judge finally agreed on March 11 for the jury trial. The proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

After the court appearance, Baechtold said the motions he and Eubanks will be filing may change the outcome of the case.

“We believe that the motions we file could have a huge impact on the Commonwealth’s case,” Baechtold said.

Although the trial date is seven months away, Smith said Angela Singleton’s family does realize that it takes time to prepare a solid case.

“They understand why the date was set when it was,” Smith said.

In addition to the murder charges, Singleton has been indicted on charges of tampering with physical evidence, third-degree arson and abuse of a corpse. Marcum also has been charged with tampering with physical evidence and first-degree hindering prosecution/apprehension.

Both Singleton and Marcum are being held in the Madison County Detention Center under $500,000 bonds.

Sarah Hogsed can be reached at shogsed@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.