CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — A defendant’s attorney in a murder-for-hire case wants to hear the jail calls he said were the foundation of the case against his client.
Brian Askew, 37, is charged with both solicitation and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder along with Amanda Deese, 50.
Police said Askew and Deese hatched a plot in January to kill a witness set to testify against Askew in a shooting case from the previous summer.
While in jail awaiting trial on a charge of aggravated malicious wounding, Askew recruited a fellow inmate to kill the victim who would testify against him, according to authorities. The fellow inmate was, in fact, a police informant.
Askew allegedly got Deese to wait outside the Chesapeake Jail the morning of Jan. 29, and she would take the would-be hitman to the target’s home. Police arrested her and found a loaded gun in the truck she was driving.
Askew’s attorney was granted a continuance on Wednesday so he could review more evidence.
“A large portion of the Commonwealth’s case is based on jail calls, and this gives me the opportunity to get the jail calls and review those,” attorney Kurt Gilchrist said.
When asked about the relationship between Askew and Deese, Gilchrist said, “That’s not something I want to talk about at this point.”
Deese was already convicted of a felony for embezzlement of more than $200,000 from a previous employer. With that record, she now faces a firearm charge in connection with the current murder-for-hire case.
Several people recognized Deese in our initial coverage as a remodeling contractor sent to their home by a home warranty company as a trusted provider. In one case, a Deep Creek couple paid her $6,500 up front to remodel their bathroom, but they told us Deese did virtually no work and they never saw her again.
Deese and Askew are due back in court Oct. 22, and Askew’s trial in the malicious wounding case is set for Oct. 29.
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