2008 Woodie Awards
Gang Killing: Testimony begins in Measles murder trial
AP
Issue date: 4/6/06 Section: News
The first trial stemming from the gang rape and murder of a 13-year-old New Milford girl opened Tuesday morning with prosecutors showing the jury photos of the girl's body taken shortly after it was pulled from the Housatonic River in July 1998.
Keith Foster, 29, of New Milford, faces a number of charges, including murder and felony murder in the death of Maryann Measles.
Eight people were charged in the death of the teenager. Police said Measles was kidnapped by a group of former friends on October 19, 1997, while she was waiting in a grocery store parking lot for her mother.
She was raped and strangled, then her body was wrapped in a blanket and chains and dumped into the Housatonic River. Her body was found the following July in Lake Lillinonah, a wide section of the river.
A school bus driver who spotted the body, and police who helped recover it were among the first witnesses called by the prosecution Tuesday.
Five members of the group, all of whom had been involved sexually with Measles at one time, feared she would press statutory rape charges against them, according to statements given to police. The three women in the group wanted to keep the men out of jail and were jealous of Measles, authorities have said.
Measles had filed statutory rape complaints against two of the men, including Foster, days before she was killed died.
Foster is accused of bringing the girl back when she tried to escape from her kidnappers and later hiding her clothing in an abandoned washing machine.
Six of those charged have closed their cases by accepting plea bargains. The six are either serving prison time or awaiting sentencing. Most are expected to testify against Foster and one other defendant, June Seger, who is also expected to take her case to trial.
Jury selection was completed earlier this month in Litchfield Superior Court, but the trial was moved to Waterbury because more space was available.
Foster's mother and father are expected to be key witnesses for the defense. They have said their son was at home with them when Measles was being kidnapped from her mother's car, raped and strangled.
Keith Foster, 29, of New Milford, faces a number of charges, including murder and felony murder in the death of Maryann Measles.
Eight people were charged in the death of the teenager. Police said Measles was kidnapped by a group of former friends on October 19, 1997, while she was waiting in a grocery store parking lot for her mother.
She was raped and strangled, then her body was wrapped in a blanket and chains and dumped into the Housatonic River. Her body was found the following July in Lake Lillinonah, a wide section of the river.
A school bus driver who spotted the body, and police who helped recover it were among the first witnesses called by the prosecution Tuesday.
Five members of the group, all of whom had been involved sexually with Measles at one time, feared she would press statutory rape charges against them, according to statements given to police. The three women in the group wanted to keep the men out of jail and were jealous of Measles, authorities have said.
Measles had filed statutory rape complaints against two of the men, including Foster, days before she was killed died.
Foster is accused of bringing the girl back when she tried to escape from her kidnappers and later hiding her clothing in an abandoned washing machine.
Six of those charged have closed their cases by accepting plea bargains. The six are either serving prison time or awaiting sentencing. Most are expected to testify against Foster and one other defendant, June Seger, who is also expected to take her case to trial.
Jury selection was completed earlier this month in Litchfield Superior Court, but the trial was moved to Waterbury because more space was available.
Foster's mother and father are expected to be key witnesses for the defense. They have said their son was at home with them when Measles was being kidnapped from her mother's car, raped and strangled.