Jan. 7 trial set for Portage murder case
Northwest Indiana Times
September 10, 2012 - 1:00 pm
VALPARAISO | A Jan. 7 trial date has been set for a Jackson Township resident charged with killing his estranged wife April 24, 2011, by firing at least eight bullets into her body with a high-powered semiautomatic rifle.
Defense attorney Paul Stracci told the court Monday morning he and prosecutors have been unable to settle on a plea agreement in the case against Fredrick Cashner Jr.
Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford set a pretrial hearing for Nov. 26 and told the attorneys that will be the last date a deal will be accepted short of Cashner pleading guilty to the crime as charged.
Cashner, of the 300 block of East Tratebas Road, has pleaded not guilty to the single charge of murder, which carries a potential sentence of 45 to 65 years in prison.
Cynthia Cashner, 50, was found dead on an air mattress after police received a 911 call about 10:25 p.m. from the Mystic Moon Herbal Shoppe, 5830 U.S. 6, Portage, which she owned.
Dispatchers reportedly heard faint breathing on the line and nothing else, though on second review, detectives later heard a male voice in the background say, "It's too late," followed by three or four gunshots, police said.
