Public defender appointed for man charged in Pembroke triple murder

The man indicted for a triple murder in Pembroke appeared in Christian Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Circuit Judge John Atkins at the hearing appointed a public defender for Christian Richard Martin. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 18.

Martin is charged with three counts of murder, two counts of burglary, and three counts of tampering with physical evidence in the deaths of Calvin Phillips, Pamela Phillips and Edward Dansereau, who were found dead in Pembroke in November 2015.

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Atkins ordered Martin be held without bond. Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear’s Special Prosecutions Unit will serve as prosecutor in the case, in which Martin could face the death penalty.

Martin was arrested in May at the Louisville International Airport, with help from the U.S. Marshals Service, Christian County Sheriff’s Office and Louisville Metro Police. At the time of the indictment, Martin was living in North Carolina and was returned to Christian County for trial.

(This report first ran on WKMS.org.)

Read indictment issued against Martin by the Christian Circuit Court, Third Judicial Circuit, Division No. II:

Cory Sharber

Reporter at WKMS

Cory Sharber is a student at Murray State University majoring in journalism and political science. He was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.