FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) — Jurors heard testimony from the first officers to respond to what eventually became the murder investigation of 25-year old Tausha Lee Baker during the first day of the murder trial of Richard Kennedy.
The trial started shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in the second-floor courtroom of the Venango County Courthouse after a jury of six men and six women along with four alternates (three men and a woman) were chosen over two-and-a-half days.
Kennedy is charged with first-degree murder along with 10 other charges in the death of Baker, who died on October 27, 2017, according to Venango County Judge Oliver Lobaugh.
Lobaugh read the charges to the jury, and they also included Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder (with Amanda Cypher, who is also charged in Baker’s death but is being tried separately); two counts of Aggravated Assault (one a Felony 1 count and the other a Felony 2 count); two counts of Kidnapping (one to Facilitate a Felony and one to Inflict Injury/Terror); Possession of an Instrument of Crime; Possession of a Weapon; Abuse of a Corpse; and Tampering With/Fabricating Evidence.