March hearing set for murder suspect

A preliminary hearing is set for March 30 in East Fork Justice Court to determine if there is enough evidence to determine that aircraft mechanic Robin Bodden was murdered and his wife Karen committed the crime.

Karen Bodden appeared in court Tuesday with her lawyers James Wilson Jr. and Royle Melton of Carson City. She is being held in Douglas County Jail on $1 million cash bail on a charge of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Wilson asked for the court date after Bodden waived her right to a hearing within 15 days so he could review the extensive files in the case against his client.

District Attorney Mark Jackson said discovery in the case filled five 3-inch binders. Jackson also said he wanted time to unseal search warrants filed in the investigation.

"We want to be able to hand over all that information," Jackson said.

Bodden, 44, has been in Douglas County Jail since her arrest Sept. 11, 2006, on charges she embezzled $30,000 from her late husband's business, General Aviation Services of Nevada, and his personal accounts.

She pleaded not guilty and was set for trial today before District Judge Dave Gamble.

Jackson filed a motion Friday to dismiss those charges without prejudice because facts in the embezzlement case are evidence of the financial motive that prosecutors believe Karen Bodden had in murdering her 50-year-old husband.

Authorities allege he was shot to death Aug. 16, 2006, at his airplane hangar at Minden-Tahoe Airport. His body was discovered in the desert near Johnson Lane on Sept. 10.

In his motion for dismissal of the embezzlement charges, Jackson said witnesses who would be required to testify at the jury trial are the same witnesses in the murder case.

"The defendant's acts of stealing money from General Aviation Services of Nevada and forging checks on the business accounts leading up to and after her husband's murder constitute the financial motive for the defendant in committing the crime," Jackson said.

EnEarl set a status hearing in the case for March 28.

"It's going to be an interesting case," Wilson said following Tuesday's proceedings.