GREENSBURG, Pa., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Six people will be tried in the torture and killing of a mentally challenged woman, a western Pennsylvania judge ruled.
Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway on Tuesday denied defense motions to dismiss first-degree homicide charges against the six, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
Police say they held 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty hostage in their apartment while they beat her, shaved her head, forced her to ingest drugs, chemicals and human waste, and stabbed her. Her body, tied up in Christmas decorations, was shoved into a garbage can and left outside a school in Greensburg.
Robert Masters, who described the ordeal, has a tentative plea deal with prosecutors, the report said.
Masters was charged along with Ricky Smyrnes, Melvin Knight, Amber Meidinger, Peggy Darlene Miller and Angela Marinucci.
The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Smyrnes, Knight and Meidinger, who are accused of the stabbing.
Because Marinucci was 17 at the time of the slaying, she cannot get the death penalty, if convicted.
Daugherty was involved in a love triangle with Smyrnes and Marinucci, suspects and prison informants have told police.
