The parents of slain Indiana University student Jill Behrman hoped to take the witness stand on Friday and speak directly to the 31-year-old handyman convicted of killing her more than six years ago.A Morgan County jury needed only about 50 minutes to find John Myers II guilty after a 10-day trial in October, giving an answer to a mystery that had lingered since the 19-year-old Behrman disappeared in May 2000 while on a bicycle ride near Bloomington.
Her mother, Marilyn Behrman, said Thursday that she and her husband, Eric, want Myers to receive the maximum prison term of 65 years during Friday's sentencing hearing."I think I can do that, look at him and tell him what he has done to us, how this has affected each of us and our family and our friends and our town. This is not the way our life was supposed to be," she said. "But I don't anticipate a reaction one way or the other. He always has the same expression."The jury reached its quick verdict even though prosecutors presented no physical evidence or eyewitnesses linking Myers to Behrman, whose remains were found in a remote Morgan County field three years after she vanished.The conduct of jurors while they were sequestered for about two weeks was expected to be raised during Friday's hearing. Court documents released this week showed that the judge questioned jury members about their actions at their hotel - with men racing each other wearing high heels, food fights and games of football and Frisbee.Morgan Superior Court Judge Christopher Burnham denied defense attorney Patrick Baker's motion for a mistrial based on the behavior.Baker, however, said this week that he would have "plenty to say" during the sentencing hearing about the jury's behavior and expected to raise questions about the activities in an appeal of the verdict.The murder conviction against Myers, of Ellettsville, carries a standard prison sentence of 55 years, but the judge could add up to 10 years based on Myers' previous convictions on battery and receiving stolen property charges and other factors.During the long investigation of Behrman's disappearance, authorities named other possible suspects and drained a creek several miles from where her remains were found in their search for clues. A grand jury heard testimony from 90 witnesses before deciding in April to indict Myers, the son of a former Monroe County Jail commander.Marilyn Behrman said she worried throughout the trial that Myers might go free."That was really scary to me," she said. "I already have a sense of relief because I know he will now have consequences for what he did. My relief comes from knowing he is not out there. He cannot hurt anyone else."
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Her mother, Marilyn Behrman, said Thursday that she and her husband, Eric, want Myers to receive the maximum prison term of 65 years during Friday's sentencing hearing."I think I can do that, look at him and tell him what he has done to us, how this has affected each of us and our family and our friends and our town. This is not the way our life was supposed to be," she said. "But I don't anticipate a reaction one way or the other. He always has the same expression."The jury reached its quick verdict even though prosecutors presented no physical evidence or eyewitnesses linking Myers to Behrman, whose remains were found in a remote Morgan County field three years after she vanished.The conduct of jurors while they were sequestered for about two weeks was expected to be raised during Friday's hearing. Court documents released this week showed that the judge questioned jury members about their actions at their hotel - with men racing each other wearing high heels, food fights and games of football and Frisbee.Morgan Superior Court Judge Christopher Burnham denied defense attorney Patrick Baker's motion for a mistrial based on the behavior.Baker, however, said this week that he would have "plenty to say" during the sentencing hearing about the jury's behavior and expected to raise questions about the activities in an appeal of the verdict.The murder conviction against Myers, of Ellettsville, carries a standard prison sentence of 55 years, but the judge could add up to 10 years based on Myers' previous convictions on battery and receiving stolen property charges and other factors.During the long investigation of Behrman's disappearance, authorities named other possible suspects and drained a creek several miles from where her remains were found in their search for clues. A grand jury heard testimony from 90 witnesses before deciding in April to indict Myers, the son of a former Monroe County Jail commander.Marilyn Behrman said she worried throughout the trial that Myers might go free."That was really scary to me," she said. "I already have a sense of relief because I know he will now have consequences for what he did. My relief comes from knowing he is not out there. He cannot hurt anyone else."
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