In Westmoreland County Court on Monday, a status conference and a motion to exclude evidence are scheduled for 51-year-old Melissa Fox-Beacom, the New Florence woman charged with plotting the murder of her mother in a child custody dispute.
Fox-Beacom is charged with criminal homicide, first degree murder, solicitation to murder, three counts of conspiracy and abuse of a corpse. 71-year-old Alice Robson was shot to death in December 2023 and her body was buried beneath the back porch of her home along Furnace Lane outside of New Florence. Investigators say the murder was carried out by Matthew Bates and Robert Jack, two 19-year-olds who both accuse the other of pulling the trigger.
At the hearing tomorrow, Judge Megan Bilik-DeFazio is expected to hear arguments on a motion to exclude from the trial the prosecution’s claim that Fox-Beacom had a history of physically abusing her mother and “engaged in violence and threats of violence towards her,” including threatening to kill her.
Bates and Jack will have status reviews for their cases in July.
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