BY BOB KALINOWSKI (STAFF WRITER)
Published: December 9, 2009
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Bob Kalinowski / The Citizens' Voice Henry D. Platt is escorted to his preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Joseph Carmody on Tuesday. Platt is charged with criminal homicide in the beating death of Kimberly Ann Burgess in March 2008.
A man accused of bludgeoning his live-in girlfriend with a wooden baseball bat in March will face charges in Luzerne County Court after a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
Prosecutors argued Henry D. Platt, 43, was at Kimberly Ann Burgess' residence in the Exeter Garden Apartments when she was beaten to death and DNA evidence links him to the bat that was repeatedly smashed over her head.
The 31-year-old's body was later found wrapped in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk in front of her home. Police said the murder was the culmination of ongoing domestic abuse sparked, in part, by fighting between the two over Platt's unwillingness to help pay household bills.
Defense attorneys say the case is circumstantial at best.
After more than two hours of testimony Tuesday, Magisterial District Judge Joseph Carmody ruled prosecutors have enough evidence to forward an open count of criminal homicide to county court, rejecting arguments by the defense to lessen the charge to manslaughter.
"We're confident Mr. Platt committed this homicide," said Assistant District Attorney William Finnegan. "By the defendant's own admission, he was there."
After initially being questioned when the body was discovered, Platt was released. For the next several months, he took refuge at Wilkes-Barre homeless shelters and soup kitchens. During that period, he was arrested on drug charges, jailed and told investigators he wanted to talk about "the Exeter thing."
While not admitting to killing Burgess, police recalled he told officers he "could've done it. I don't know" and that he "snapped" that day.
Police charged Platt with criminal homicide in October after the completion of DNA testing.
Authorities say there were attempts to clean up blood stains throughout the home, there was no forced entry to the home and no evidence anyone else was in the home other than Platt. On the day of the homicide, police said they followed a blood trail from the sleeping bag containing Burgess' body to the rear door of Burgess' home, where Platt answered the door.
Defense attorneys said the Commonwealth does not have enough evidence to support the intentional murder charge.
"It's a circumstantial case at this point. No one really saw what happened in that apartment," defense attorney John Sobota said after the hearing.
bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055
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