Trial date set for couple accused of killing elderly woman and husband

EUFAULA, Okla. (AP) -- McIntosh County prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a couple accused of killing an elderly Lenna woman and her paraplegic husband. The district attorney's office filed

Friday, January 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

EUFAULA, Okla. (AP) -- McIntosh County prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a couple accused of killing an elderly Lenna woman and her paraplegic husband. The district attorney's office filed a motion Wednesday seeking the punishment against Harold and Vickie McElmurry, who allegedly beat and stabbed Vivian Pendley, 75, and her 80-year-old husband, Robert, in their home about 10 miles west of Eufaula.

The bodies of the Pendleys, who had previously hired the McElmurrys to do yard work on their 80-acre property, were found Aug. 2. The McElmurrys face two counts of first-degree murder, Assistant District Attorney Phil Cozzoni said. District Judge Steven Taylor set the date for the McElmurrys' trial for April.

Taylor overruled a motion filed by defense attorney Wes Gibson to have the case remanded for a further preliminary hearing. Gibson said he filed the motion because at the Jan. 5 hearing, Associate District Judge Gene Mowery denied his request to have Harold McElmurry testify on behalf of his wife, whom Gibson represents. After the hearing, Gibson said Harold McElmurry had told his wife from the outset that he was going to exonerate her and that he wanted to get on the stand to say he "did it all." "I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that at this point," Gibson said Thursday. "I may file a writ on that issue."

The McElmurrys went to the Pendleys home because they needed transportation and money, Texas Ranger Doyle Holdridge testified. Holdridge said Harold McElmurry told him McElmurry stabbed Pendley with scissors several times -- knocking him out of his wheelchair -- before bludgeoning him with a hoe and pounding the man with a steel pipe. Mrs. Pendley tried to run but was stopped, Holdridge testified. He said McElmurry told him he stabbed and beat Mrs. Pendley.

Chief Deputy Meme Martinez of Webb County, Texas, testified in December that Vickie McElmurry confessed to him that she had hit Pendley on the head with a pipe and had choked Mrs. Pendley until McElmurry could stab her. After the slayings, the McElmurrys allegedly stole the Pendleys' car and fled to Mexico. They were arrested at a Laredo border crossing as they attempted to drive back into the United States.