GUILTY In - Halee Rathgeber, 20, Fatally Shot, Warrick County, 24 April 2017 *arrest*

[Tippy Lynn]

I will make one. Which forum do you think, trials? Or crimes against children?

My vote is Trials - thank you!

 

[Alethea]

Here we go, I think I did it right:

IN - Jaxson Wheeler, 10 mo., Evansville, April 2017

 

[Alethea]

I just watched the Dateline special and now I don't know what to think. I still don't understand why IH would do it.

It seems like IH's defense lawyer really doesn't know what happened. He pretty much said when IH's mom said it was an accident, his whole defense was shot. What if IH's mom was telling the truth? I am a little surprised the defense lawyer would be caught off-guard like that. If it truly was an accident, IH probably could have gotten the charges reduced. Certainly much less than 60 years in prison.

Dateline glossed over friends saying IH "changed" in the few months before the crime. He was stealing more and more money. Was it drugs? Gambling? Mental illness? All of that could have been used as mitigation if this was a good kid who fell into a serious drug problem and got in over his head. His parents said he didn't know how to use a gun and didn't like guns even though his dad was a sport shooter. Did he just intend to threaten or scare Halee into giving him more money? Did he snap? We don't know because he didn't present a defense. The alternative is a cold-hearted killer who would kill one of his best friends over $200 and deserves to spend his whole life in prison.

I don't know, it doesn't add up to me still. The fact that Halee!!! was the one who disproved Thad's story about tripping over a diaper bag killing Jaxson is also new. It makes me even more glad that Jaxson will get justice even if Halee is not here to testify.

It's such a senseless crime.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

I just watched the Dateline special and now I don't know what to think. I still don't understand why IH would do it.

It seems like IH's defense lawyer really doesn't know what happened. He pretty much said when IH's mom said it was an accident, his whole defense was shot. What if IH's mom was telling the truth? I am a little surprised the defense lawyer would be caught off-guard like that. If it truly was an accident, IH probably could have gotten the charges reduced. Certainly much less than 60 years in prison.

Dateline glossed over friends saying IH "changed" in the few months before the crime. He was stealing more and more money. Was it drugs? Gambling? Mental illness? All of that could have been used as mitigation if this was a good kid who fell into a serious drug problem and got in over his head. His parents said he didn't know how to use a gun and didn't like guns even though his dad was a sport shooter. Did he just intend to threaten or scare Halee into giving him more money? Did he snap? We don't know because he didn't present a defense. The alternative is a cold-hearted killer who would kill one of his best friends over $200 and deserves to spend his whole life in prison.

I don't know, it doesn't add up to me still. The fact that Halee!!! was the one who disproved Thad's story about tripping over a diaper bag killing Jaxson is also new. It makes me even more glad that Jaxson will get justice even if Halee is not here to testify.

It's such a senseless crime.

It doesn’t make sense. On the Dateline episode IH’s parents mentioned an appeal. I wonder what the appeal is?

 

[JerseyGirl]

Aleah Beckerle case and others continue in court despite completion of criminal trials

Hagan was found guilty of murder, felony murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice. He agreed to a prison sentence of 60 years total.

He appealed the convictions, but the Indiana Appellate Court has not made a decision yet. In court documents submitted in December, a defense attorney asks the court to throw out the jury’s verdict, arguing that Hagan did not get a fair and impartial trial.
The appeal claims the trial court hurt Hagan’s defense in multiple ways, including letting jurors have access to their cellphones in the jury room and a dispute over appointing co-counsel for the defense in the case. The defense moved for a mistrial three separate times during trial, all based on issues cited in the appeal. All three motions were denied at the time.

No hearings are scheduled yet in the appellate case.

 

[jessarox]

Hagan murder sentence not affected by Court of Appeals' double jeopardy ruling

The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that some of Isaiah Hagan's convictions in the murder of Halee Rathgeber violated the legal principal of double jeopardy.

However, the appeals court said Hagan's 60-year sentence for the April 2017 murder will not be affected because Hagan agreed to it to avoid a possible sentence of life without parole.

 

[jessarox]

Counsel: Dateline episode sparks questions in Warrick Co. murder, new trial sought

A Warrick County Judge has until January 31 to issue findings in Isaiah Hagan’s request for post conviction relief.

www.14news.com

Hagan’s counsel says law enforcement determined Rice couldn’t have killed Rathgeber because he was at home.

His attorney tells 14 News that Rice recently acknowledged he wasn’t home the entire evening.

He says a Dateline episode about the case is what led a private citizen to do his own digging into the case, where he got Jaxson’s mother to admit she and Rice knew that Rathgeber was going to go to the police with information about the baby’s death.

That interview, although public record, was ruled inadmissible.

The Warrick County Prosecutor tells us the information given to us by counsel is false.