Opening statements and testimony in the trial of a New Florence woman charged with ordering the murder of her mother, along with one of the two men alleged to have fired the fatal shots, are set to begin Monday, Feb. 9.
The 12-person jury and four alternates who will hear the cases against Melissa Fox-Beacom, 51, and Matthew Jason Bates, 20, of Ligonier, were seated Tuesday.
Fox-Beacom and Bates are charged with criminal homicide, first-degree murder, conspiracy and abuse of a corpse in connection with the Dec. 11, 2023, fatal shooting of 71-year-old Alice Robson in her St. Clair home.
Prosecutors contend Fox-Beacom had a history of violence toward her mother and an ongoing dispute over the custody and care of a disabled child. Authorities allege Fox-Beacom coerced Bates, her daughter’s boyfriend, and another man, Robert Jack, 20, of Washington, to break into the home and kill Robson.
Robson was shot twice in the head as she sat in a chair near where her grandson was sleeping. Her body was found stuffed under a rear porch at the home. The suspected murder weapon was never recovered.
In a pretrial hearing last week before Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio, prosecutors disclosed that all three suspects spoke at length about Robson’s killing to county detectives after her body was discovered.
The case against Jack, who is also facing homicide and conspiracy charges, will be prosecuted separately. He is expected to testify for the prosecution.
Neither prosecutors nor Jack’s defense attorney has confirmed whether a plea deal was agreed to in exchange for his testimony at trial.
