As he approaches his second anniversary of continuous incarceration, the accused killer of City Hall consultant Paul Bilodeau finally has received a spot of good news, “good” being a matter of controlled degree.
If Myron DeShun Grant is found guilty next year of the Jan. 2, 2009, homicide at the site of Fire Station No. 3 in Fox Hills, the state will not seek the death penalty.
It was revealed at this morning’s pre-trial hearing in Superior Court that prosecutors have dropped the special circumstances charge originally attached to the crime, presumably because of the lack of confidence in their ability to prove a robbery motive.
Previously a no-bail case, after the charge subtraction Judge H. Chester Horn set bail for Mr. Grant at $1.1 million.
Mr. Grant, previously convicted of three separate felonies, has been behind bars since February of last year, when he was arrested on an unrelated case. Four months later, he formally was accused of murdering Mr. Bilodeau, although a motive remains a foggy matter.
Mr. Grant’s family members faithfully have attended every hearing, down to this morning when the case originally was assigned to one seventh-floor courtroom before, at 10 o’clock, being transferred down the corridor.
The suspect wears his hair in corn rows, and at every hearing he turns to acknowledge his relatives without, however, a detectable expression.
Penalties
The last hearing was postponed to give prosecutors more time to formulate an offer, but Dep. Dist. Atty. Heather Steggell said a decision had not yet been reached, and the case was continued until Thursday, Dec. 8.
Evidence has been skimpy all along whether robbery was related to the killing of the city employee, who was alone on the empty lot the night after a holiday. It has been reported but never confirmed that money remained in Mr. Bilodeau’s possibly undisturbed wallet.
A ten-dollar bill was found under the arm of the 45-year-old, much-loved Mr. Bilodeau the morning after he was shot to death while working late in a construction trailer early in the building phase.
How it got there is speculation.
Public defender Robert Conley said this morning it was “very good” news that the robbery charge had been dropped, automatically lightening the 27-year-old Mr. Grant’s potential sentence. But the defense is not nearly ready to go to trial, he added, indicating it is unlikely to start before “late winter or early spring. March might be a good estimate of when we go, if we go.
“We are waiting on discovery,” Mr. Conley said. “Some DNA discovery still is outstanding.”
The cheering news of shaved charges against Mr. Grant still is relative because if he is convicted the still mysterious homicide, he would stand to be sentenced to 50 years to life.
“The death penalty has been removed and life-without-parole has been removed,” Mr. Conley said. “But the truth is, the maximum exposure, as it stands now, still is huge, 25-to-life for first degree murder and 25-to-life for the use of a gun that results in injury. Together, that is 50-to-life.
“So it still is a high stakes situation.”
How has Mr. Grant responded to the latest developments?
“For every client, that always is good news,” Mr. Conley said. “On the other hand, he still is under a lot of stress.
“I must say, I am sure a lot of people are dismayed by this. But in a case that started out as a capital case, that is not unusual. These cases often take two years to go to trial.”
