Adams Co. hosts second murder trial
Published 9:39 am Friday, June 15, 2012
The second out-of-town murder trial to be hosted in Natchez in as many months will be in Adams County Circuit Court next week.
Judge Anthony Mozingo transferred the murder trial of Joseph Ronald Hartfield, who along with two others is accused of killing his wife, Tabitha Hartfield, from Lamar County earlier this month. Jury selection of Adams County residents will begin Monday.
Tabitha Hartfield was found in a shallow grave in Purvis on May 31, 2008. She had been strangled, possibly up to a week before her discovery.
The Natchez Democrat reports the trial venue was changed because Joseph Hartfield’s attorneys contended that extensive news coverage of the murder in Lamar County has made it impossible to seat an unbiased jury.
