Jill Behrman's parents fight back against defense

MARTINSVILLE -- Four days into the murder trial of John R. Myers II, Jill Behrman's parents accused the defense of breaking Indiana legislative code and denigrating their daughter's character.\nIn a press conference held at the end of the day's testimony, Marilyn and Eric Behrman read a statement to reporters stating they were "appalled" at the statements defense attorney Patrick Baker was making to the press in regards to Jill Behrman's character. \n"Must we be forced to live with Mr. Baker's accusations?" Eric Behrman asked. "Jill is certainly unable to defend herself, just as she was that day in May 2000."\nBaker theorized that Jill Behrman fled her home May 31, pregnant with an older man's baby that she was hiding from her parents.\nThe Behrmans highlighted a part of Indiana law that asserts a "victim has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect throughout the criminal justice process" and asked if Baker was being held to the same standards as the witnesses who are swearing oaths before they testify.\nOn Thursday, Baker continued to cast doubt over Jill Behrman's intentions the Saturday she disappeared, suggesting the 19-year-old was having an affair with a former co-worker and arguing that he should be considered a suspect just as much as Myers.\nBrian Hollars, a former labor coordinator at the Student Recreational Sports Center, denied being romantically involved with Behrman when he testified Thursday. He told the jury he had never dated her, had a romantic interest in her or argued with her. He also denied ever working out with her, sending her e-mail or even knowing her phone number.\n"I absolutely had nothing to do with Jill Behrman's death," the Bloomington firefighter said when asked by the prosecution if he had killed her.\nHollars, who hired Behrman in the early spring of 2000 to work at the SRSC, said he had little personal contact with her as an employee, since she was directly supervised by another co-worker, Wes Burton, who testified Wednesday.\nThe crux of the defense's questioning lay in the 20- and 12-gauge shotguns Hollars owns and uses for hunting birds with his father-in-law. The guns, which are both over-under double-barrel shotguns, have never been examined by the police. Hollars said he offered to show them to police officers when they questioned him at his house, but they declined.\nHe also uses size eight shot, a common size for bird hunting. Lead pellets of a similar size were found near Jill Behrman's remains. Hollars said he does not carry the guns in his vehicle routinely.\n"I believe I was considered a suspect for a lot of coincidental reasons," Hollars said, citing the location where he and his wife used to live, on the corner of Maple Grove Road, as being close to the location where Jill Behrman's bike was found and the fact that he owns a weapon similar to what killed her.\nDuring the intense questioning from both sides, Hollars said on May 31, 2000, he arrived early to work at about 6:30 or 7 a.m. to assist in loading ice chests into a truck for his boss's wife. The only time he might have left the building during the day was to check four athletic fields on campus to ensure their upkeep, he said.\n"I wanted to come in here and at least defend my name and help out at least in this trial," he said. Myers swiveled slightly back and forth in his chair as Hollars testified.\nProsecutor Steve Sonnega told reporters during the lunch break that Baker's legal tactics were only going to alienate him from the jurors. \n"There's not a single piece of evidence tying (Hollars) to her." he said. "There are just a lot of unfounded accusations."\nThe prosecution called Greg Bartlett to the witness stand Thursday afternoon. He told the jury he saw a bicycle, later identified as Jill Behrman's, laying on the side of Maple Grove Road shortly after 4 p.m. May 31, 2000.\nBartlett said he looked around to see if anyone was nearby, and when he saw that there wasn't, he looked in the tool pouch affixed to the bike seat to see if there was identification inside. There wasn't, he said.\nA few days later, while at work, he said he saw in the newspaper that Jill Behrman was missing. The description of her bike and the one he found and put in his barn "matched to a T." He said he thought he had her bike, and then two detectives came to see it. When the jurors asked questions via a slip of paper handed to Judge Christopher Burnham, they wanted to know if Bartlett could have damaged the bicycle while handling it. He said no.\nFour other witnesses testified they saw the bike in that location the afternoon of Jill Behrman's disappearance.\nBrian Behrman, 27, also spoke Thursday morning, recounting his sister's love of biking. \n"She always wanted to keep up with me," he said, explaining how her cycling skills had outpaced his by the time she graduated from high school.\nBrian Behrman said he was "fairly close" to his sister and said she didn't date anyone in particular during her freshman year. He also told the jury she had no favorite route that she normally took while bicycling, disagreeing with the defense when they tried to suggest she might have been riding on the south end of town, near South Harrell Road.\n"There were multiple reports -- she was placed all over Bloomington (by witnesses after she disappeared)," he said.\nWhile he remained calm and focused during most of the questioning, Brian Behrman broke down in tears when remembering the day his sister disappeared, explaining how his father came to him and told him she was missing.\n"I wanted to be able to say more at the end, but I was choked up," he said in the hallway after his testimony. "It's something I've been nervous about for a long time."\n-- IDS Managing Editor Kacie Foster contributed to this article.