Teen accused in mother's death has hearing in India
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A South Fayette teen accused of killing his mother at a resort in western India faced a juvenile justice board today in Jodhpur, where police asked the court for additional time to investigate before they formally charge him.
Joncarlo Patton, 15, will face the board again on Sept. 6, where police may present a "charge sheet" that will formally accuse the boy in the death of his mother, international business consultant Dr. Cynthia Iannarelli of Cecil, his attorney Manish Vyas said. But the hearing may be postponed because the board's head, Chief Judicial Magistrate Ishwari Lal Verma, may not return before that date.
Joncarlo last faced the board last Friday, when police told Magistrate Lal Verma that they were not ready to charge the boy and requested additional time to investigate. The magistrate ordered that Joncarlo remain in custody at a juvenile home in Jodhpur, where he is being housed with other young offenders.
Police said the boy slit his mother's throat in the early morning hours of Aug. 13 at a luxury resort in Osian, a small town in the western India state of Rajasthan. Her body was found wrapped in a white sheet at the bottom of a sand dune. Joncarlo was arrested later that day at the Jodhpur airport, about 60 miles from Osian, while he was trying catch a flight to Mumbai or New Dehli.
Joncarlo wrote a letter to the juvenile justice board, which will try him if he is formally accused, saying the police tortured him "mentally" and forced him to sign fabricated confessions.
First Published September 3, 2010 8:25 am
