By Scott North
Herald Writer
An Arlington man accused of killing his wife and hiding her body for a dozen years failed to convince a judge Thursday to throw out the case.
David C. Schubert, 62, is scheduled to go to trial early next week, charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Juliana Schubert.
The 30-year-old woman dropped from sight in June 1989. She left behind her car, cash and two young sons. Schubert has pleaded innocent and maintains his wife simply left and never returned.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry spent part of Thursday addressing pretrial issues.
The missing woman’s mother, Karil Nelson of Arlington, sat in the front of the courtroom. Prosecutors give her much of the credit for keeping the case alive. "Right now it is nerve-wracking," Nelson said.
Schubert’s attorneys, public defenders Richard Tassano and Rick Leo, argued there is insufficient evidence to conclude Juliana Schubert was the victim of premeditated murder. They also said Schubert can’t get a fair trial after so many years of suspicion.
The case has been wending its way through the courts for more than 12 years.
Investigators say no trace of Juliana Schubert has ever been found. But Tassano said police reports contain the names of witnesses who believe they may have seen her years after she disappeared.
Schubert came under suspicion when he gave contradictory explanations for his wife’s absence. He was charged with second-degree murder in 1994, but the case was dropped after the lead detective died of leukemia. Prosecutors refiled the case in October, upgrading the charge to first-degree murder.
"You’ve got to have a factual basis to haul somebody in to trial, especially seven or eight years later, when we’ve been going around and around on this thing," Tassano said.
Deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said the new charge came after prosecutors reviewed all the available records, including Schubert’s 1998 testimony in a civil wrongful death trial that ended with a verdict against him.
The judge said he will require prosecutors to meet the legal requirements for proving first- or second-degree murder, and may decide at the end of the trial what charge, if any, is supported.
At the same time, Castleberry said there is enough evidence for prosecutors to allege premeditated murder. He cited marital discord in the Schubert home, witnesses who claim the defendant talked about killing his wife, and a person who said Schubert asked that person to stay away from the couple’s home the weekend his wife disappeared.
Tassano said his client’s case has been weakened by time, including the 1995 death of detective Rick Blake, who investigated the case the first five years. Blake was convinced Schubert was a killer, and his view of the case "I think really colored the way this investigation went," Tassano said.
After Blake’s death, Schubert appealed a ruling that left open the possibility he would again be charged. The state Court of Appeals later held Schubert couldn’t legally block a future prosecution.
Deputy prosecutor Paul Stern said the U.S. Supreme Court has found it legally permissible for years to pass before charges are filed. He cited rulings in the case of Jeffrey McDonald, a Green Beret Army surgeon who was convicted in 1980 of murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 1970. Castleberry said Schubert so far hasn’t shown that he’s been harmed by the seven-year break in his case.
"Certainly, certain things will flesh themselves out in the trial on whether there was actual prejudice or not," the judge said.
You can call Herald Writer Scott North at 425-339-3431
or send e-mail to north@heraldnet.com.
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