3/29/13 - There have been some recent court developments in the case of a couple charged with felony murder in the death of a homeless man whose body was found in 2010 along a rural Livingston County road. 45-year-old Mitchell Judd Hall of Byron and 51-year-old Antoinette Bea Hix of Gaines each face charges of 1st degree felony murder and abuse of a vulnerable adult in the death of 71-year old Clarence Elijah Hines. Hix is also charged with premeditated murder in the first degree. Hix claimed that she was under duress when the crime occurred and her defense attorney intends to argue that sheâs a victim of battered womenâs syndrome. However, prosecutors argued that is not a defense to murder and filed a motion to preclude the duress defense during trial, which was granted this week by Livingston County Circuit Court Judge David Reader. Both are scheduled for separate jury trials in April, unless the case is adjourned again or plea deals are reached. Police say the suspects left Hines at the side of Sober Road in Conway Township on April 11th, 2010. He was found dead there the following morning. Authorities say Hines died due to a combination of hypothermia and multiple blunt trauma injuries. Authorities say the couple wanted to rid themselves of caring for Hines due to his failing health and discussed various options to do so, eventually deciding to drop him off on a rural dirt road. (JM)
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