MURDER TRIAL CONTINUES TODAY IN DEFIANCE

Tes­ti­mony in the trial of Judith Hawkey is expected to con­tinue today in Defi­ance County Com­mon Pleas Court.

Hawkey is charged with aggra­vated mur­der, four counts of endan­ger­ing chil­dren, and insur­ance fraud.

Her trial began Mon­day. The prosecution’s first expert wit­ness tes­ti­fied Wednes­day.

Dr. Bar­bara Knox, a child abuse physi­cian and pedi­a­tri­cian with the Uni­ver­sity of Wis­con­sin, was on the wit­ness stand for approx­i­mately five hours yes­ter­day.

The charges against Hawkey allege that she caused her then 10-year-old step­son, who is now 20, to shoot and kill her hus­band, the boy’s father, in Novem­ber of 2003 at their home in Mark Cen­ter. Hawkey also allegedly abused the boy and com­mit­ted insur­ance fraud by col­lect­ing ben­e­fits from her husband’s death.