KINGSTON, Tenn. – A woman accused of killing a prison guard while helping her convict husband escape from a courthouse was arraigned Monday and her lawyers said they are hoping to see her diary, which was seized by prosecutors.
In a 34-page handwritten account titled "A Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde," Jennifer Hyatte, 31, allegedly compared herself and her husband, George Hyatte, 34, to the bank-robbing couple of the Depression era.
Prosecutors will likely use it against her, defense attorney John Eldridge said Monday after Monday's brief arraignment. Jennifer Hyatte entered no plea and the judge set a trial date of July 25, 2006.
"We certainly are concerned about any writings that she may have made that were confiscated from her in jail," Eldridge said. "I haven't seem them."
George Hyatte's trial is set for Aug. 8.
District Attorney Scott McCluen says he will seek the death penalty against both Hyattes.
They are charged with first-degree murder in the killing of prison guard Wayne "Cotton" Morgan, 56, during the Aug. 9 escape. She also is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at Morgan's partner, Larry Harris, and with aiding an escape.
Police say Jennifer Hyatte, a former prison nurse who met and married her husband in prison, ambushed the guards as they were leading George Hyatte to a prison van after a hearing in the Roane County Courthouse.
George Hyatte, serving a 41-sentence for robbery and related offenses, yelled "Shoot him" when he saw her, Harris testified at a previous hearing. Harris said he emptied his revolver and fired several shots from Morgan's gun as the couple fled. They were captured 36 hours later in a motel in Columbus, Ohio.
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