Defense points to another suspect

MARTINSVILLE — Defense attorneys in the murder trial of Ellettsville resident John R. Myers II attempted to deflect attention from their client Wednesday by portraying the victim, Jill Behrman, as a scared young woman who may have been pregnant and killed by a jealous lover.\nIn opening arguments Monday, defense attorney Patrick Baker claimed Behrman might have been involved with a married coworker at the Student Recreational Sports Center shortly before she disappeared while riding her bicycle May 31, 2000, outside Bloomington. Baker put forth the theory that the man — not Myers — might have had something to do with Behrman's death.\nBehrman was a 19-year-old IU sophomore when she vanished. Her bicycle was found two days later in a cornfield outside Ellettsville, but her remains were not discovered until March 2003 in a wooded area near Paragon, Ind., in rural Morgan County.\nWhile cross-examining Marilyn Behrman, Jill's mother, Baker questioned her about condoms, emergency contraceptive pills, a pregnancy test and books about pregnancy investigators found in her daughter's room days after her disappearance.\nMarilyn Behrman raised her voice several times during this line of questioning, but she otherwise did not show emotion. She said she was not aware of what exactly was in her daughter's room or why but said Jill had completed a human sexuality class her freshman year and the objects in question might be related to that.\nBaker went on to question her about her daughter's menstrual cycle and possible signs of morning sickness, but Marilyn Behrman said she did not believe her daughter showed any signs of pregnancy in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.\n"I think if she knew she was pregnant, I think she would tell me," Marilyn Behrman said.\nLater, prosecutors called to the stand IU alumna Becky Shoemake, Jill Behrman's cousin and freshman roommate.\nThis time Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega asked about Jill Behrman's love life, whether she was dating anyone, had men over to spend the night or was known to be "promiscuous."\nShoemake said Jill Behrman had gone on a few dates their freshman year but did not have much more information to offer about the murdered student's love life. She did say Jill Behrman had been asked out to lunch by an older man in the weeks leading up to May 31.\n"She was concerned because he was over 21 and she was not old enough to drink," Shoemake said. "She was not sure if she should go ... I don't know if they went out."\nThe final witness prosecutors called Wednesday was Wes Burton, Jill Behrman's supervisor at the SRSC. \nBurton said he did not know whether Jill Behrman had a relationship outside of work with her coworker. He also said that at the time Jill Behrman is thought to have disappeared, the man in question was helping him move an ice chest.\nMyers, 30, pleaded not guilty to Behrman's murder after being indicted by a Morgan County grand jury in April.\nThe trial is expected to last two to four weeks.