Attorneys Ask to Withdraw from Murder Case

Associated Press

EL RENO, Oklahoma -- Lawyers for a man accused of strangling his former girlfriend and her four children are asking an Oklahoma judge to assign new defense attorneys about six weeks after authorities said the man tried to escape from jail.

Canadian County District Judge Gary Miller was asked to allow the court-appointed lawyers for Joshua Steven Durcho to withdraw from the case and to reschedule the Sept. 13 trial, which would give his new attorneys time to prepare, according to a sealed motion filed Friday. Miller scheduled a hearing for Thursday.

The reasons behind the request weren't clear. Only the motion's title, which indicates defense attorneys want to be removed, and the request for a new trial date were made public. One of Durcho's attorneys, Craig Corgan of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, and Assistant District Attorney Paul Hesse declined comment Wednesday.

Durcho, 27, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder for the January 2009 killings of 25-year-old Summer Garas and her four children, who ranged in age from 3 to 7. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Complaints of attempted escape and damaging county property were filed against Durcho and another inmate accused of murder, Jeremy Alan Pendleton, on June 24, Sheriff Randall Edwards said. A day earlier, Miller denied defense attorneys' request to move the trial to another location because of pretrial publicity.

Edwards said Pendleton was trying to remove mortar from a wall so he could get into Durcho's adjacent cell, and Durcho was doing the same in another wall that adjoins an exterior exercise area.

"What he didn't know is that wall is steel reinforced. They weren't going anywhere," Edwards said. "It really didn't amount to anything involving any kind of security breach."

But it alarmed law enforcement because Pendleton escaped in May from the Dewey County Jail, where he was being held temporarily, after striking a sheriff's deputy with a lunch tray, grabbing his keys and unlocking a door, Edwards said. He was recaptured within four minutes.

Durcho is accused of killing Garas, her three daughters -- Kirsten and Autumn Rust, both 7, and Evynn Garas, 3 -- and her son, 4-year-old Teagin Rust, in the family's El Reno apartment. Prosecutors allege Durcho also sexually abused the 7-year-old girls.

Prosecutors allege Durcho killed their mother to keep her from contacting police about two outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court on charges of driving under the influence and drug possession. Durcho, who had served prison time for marijuana possession, had vowed never to return to prison.

Durcho fled Oklahoma after the slayings but was taken into custody in Texas a day later, after he was injured in a car accident.