Judge Doesn't Want Hammer Triple Murder Case to Get Lost

By Joel Frady

While the one-year anniversary of the murders of Ronald F. Hudler, Frederick D. Hudler and John S. Miller is

looming, the trial for prime suspect Frederick Phillip Hammer of Crumpler may still be months from even getting under way. According to defense attorney Jonathon Venzvie, the pre-trial motions scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 9, at the Grayson County Courthouse in independence, Va., will be "just a motions and scheduling hearing.

"There's not going to be any fireworks on Friday," he said. "Mostly, it's (Circuit Court Judge Brett L. Geisler) wanting to just keep track of the case. What he has decided to do is basically have everyone appear in front of him at least monthly. Obviously, he can't ask us what we're doing, but (he wants) to make sure that requests that are being made are followed through and that kind of stuff. He doesn't want the case to get lost is the best way to describe it.

"Any time you are planning on setting aside a four-week trial in Grayson County, that's a pretty big deal," he later added. "Instead of one pre-trial, which is typical, he's going to have monthly pre-trials, which is very untypical, but this is a case that's big. There's a lot to it."

The case will take both sides longer to prepare for, according to Venzvie, because of the amount of information that they have to locate and the number of people they have to interview.

"One of the things with the litigation aspect of it is that all family members and all people who have had significant contact with Hammer in his life have to be tracked down and interviewed," he said. "As it happens, they happen to be spread all over the country.

"There's a lot of information out there, it's as simple as that," he continued, "and all of it has to be gained. All of his early records - military records, school records, hospital records - every time he got the sniffles, you have to get the copies of it. And it takes time."

All this information has to be gained because all of it may be brought up in court. Venzvie noted that "there's a lot of issues other than what happened up at the Hudlers" on Jan. 24, 2008, and that the defense team has to be prepared for anything they might see in the trial.

"A whole lot of avenues have to be kept track of, and the judge is very concerned that the defense and the prosecution keeps track of it," he said.

Venzvie doesn't, however, rule out the possibility of getting a definite answer on the trial date from Judge Geisler.

"He may very well set a trial date on Friday," said Venzvie, "but it's going to be at least a year out."

Hammer has been charged with three counts of Class-1 felony capital murder, along with four counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony; three counts of malicious wounding; statutory burglary while armed with a deadly weapon; grand larceny; robbery; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. All of the charges are felonies.