MATHEWS, Va. (AP) — The prosecutor in the case of an amateur photographer charged with killing 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl agreed Monday to amend the indictment against him.
Mathews County Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Gill agreed to change the language of the murder indictment against Benjamin Fawley, 38, charging him with second-degree murder in Behl's death.
In a brief hearing in Mathews Circuit Court, defense attorneys argued that, as originally worded, the indictment was flawed because it offered multiple options to how Behl died. The original indictment charged Fawley of first-degree murder while committing another felony, such as rape, sodomy or abduction.
Behl disappeared from Richmond on Sept. 5. Her remains were found a month later in a shallow ravine in rural Mathews County.
Fawley's court-appointed attorney, Bill Johnson, entered several other motions, including requests for court-appointed assistance to include a private investigator and experts in computers and sexual behavior. At Johnson's request, those motions will be heard later.
Fawley's trial is scheduled to begin May 30.
Taylor Behl & Ben Fawley Full Coverage
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