ANOTHER PLEA DEAL

◼ Bradshaw agreed to give location of body in plea deal
Robin Stuart Bradshaw entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors last month, agreeing to disclose the location of his wife's body and plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, court records show.

According to court documents, Robin Bradshaw entered his guilty plea Dec. 17, pleading to a single count of voluntary manslaughter upon a sudden quarrel or the heat of passion and making a false insurance claim. He faces a 12-year prison sentence. As a condition of the plea, Robin Bradshaw was to disclose the location of his wife's body.

District Attorney Paul Gallegos said his office decided to enter into the agreement because it was important o Monica Bradshaw's family that her body be recovered, adding that his office discussed the deal with her family.

Further, Gallegos said, in order to get a jury to convict Robin Bradshaw of murder, prosecutors would have had to prove that Monica Bradshaw had, in fact, died, and that Robin Bradshaw killed her unlawfully and with malice aforethought.

”That's what turns an unlawful homicide into murder as opposed to manslaughter,” Gallegos said. “Based on what we knew, we believed that if we were able to establish an unlawful killing and then tried to show malice through circumstantial evidence, we would be confronted with direct evidence that there was no malice -- that this was either self-defense or in the heat of passion, i.e., manslaughter.”

Gallegos said his office felt the “reasonable best case scenario” if the case went to trial with the evidence prosecutors had, and without a body, was a manslaughter conviction....

A declaration in support of an arrest warrant in the case prepared by Sheriff's Detective Rich Schlesiger also states that two people close to Robin Bradshaw told authorities that he made confessions to them about the crime, and that he said it was an act of self-defense.

One of the individuals told investigators that Robin Bradshaw said his wife attacked him with a crowbar. Robin Bradshaw reportedly then told the person that he was able to wrestle the crowbar away from his wife, and then hit her over the head with it, causing her to fall into the bathtub. According to the affidavit, Robin Bradshaw reportedly said he then hit his wife twice more, once in the head and once in the shoulder.

The person further told investigators, according to the affidavit, that Robin Bradshaw confessed to first burying his wife in a shallow grave in the backyard of his home, only to later dig her body up and bury it on an undeveloped Danco subdivision off of Fieldbrook Road in McKinleyville, which matches the description of where authorities found the body Thursday.

Reached Friday morning, Parris said his team had already set to work on trying to positively identify the body as Monica Bradshaw, but said removing the surrounding dirt from the body would be a painstaking affair.

”It's a delicate job,” Parris said, adding that a group of forensic anthropologists would use small brushes and other tools to slowly remove the hundred or so pounds of dirt from around the body. “We'll get right down to using tooth brushes if necessary.”

Parris said the body was found deep enough in the soil that it was very well-preserved, considering it had been in the ground for nearly 18 months.

”When you get down that deep, it prevents a lot of outside sources from (affecting) the body,” Parris said. “The body is totally intact, which is very unusual. I'm quite amazed.”
◼ Authorities believe they have found the body of missing McKinleyville woman

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PREVIOUSLY:
◼ DA's office (Paul Gallegos) still undecided in Bradshaw case; Gallegos to talk to pathologist next week May 28, 2010
◼ Bradshaw sentencing postponed, Gallegos "weighing" decision May 5, 2010
...Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos received Super's report last week, but has yet to decide how to proceed with the case. At Tuesday's hearing, Bradshaw's attorney, Peter Martin, said Gallegos had contacted him asking that the sentencing hearing be postponed.

”He wants more time, I believe, to review the medical report and to request supporting materials from the medical examiner,” Martin said....
◼ ”It's going to be something Paul's going to have to think about.” April 27, 2010
-- Bradshaw autopsy report with Humboldt County DA; indicates blunt force trauma as cause of death
◼ Autopsy report coming in Bradshaw case; plea agreement hinges on results for McKinleyville man accused of wife's murder APRIL 24, 2010
◼ Bradshaw positively identified; full autopsy report pending more test results FEBRUARY 01, 2010
◼ Autopsy set for Sunday in Bradshaw case JANUARY 23, 2010
◼ ANOTHER PLEA DEAL - Bradshaw agreed to give location of body in plea deal JANUARY 09, 2010
Robin Stuart Bradshaw entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors last month, agreeing to disclose the location of his wife's body and plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, court records show.
◼ Authorities believe they have found the body of missing McKinleyville woman JANUARY 08, 2010
The person further told investigators, according to the affidavit, that Robin Bradshaw confessed to first burying his wife in a shallow grave in the backyard of his home, only to later dig her body up and bury it on an undeveloped Danco subdivision off of Fieldbrook Road in McKinleyville.
◼ Hearing for McKinleyville murder case continued NOVEMBER 05, 2009
◼ Bradshaw Prelim continued to Nov. 5 SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
◼ Prelim for Robin Stuart Bradshaw JULY 07, 2009
◼ Bradshaw pleads not guilty to murdering wife June 16, 2009
◼ Robin Stuart Bradshaw, arrested JUNE 16, 2009
◼ Second search warrant issued in missing woman case - and a request to seal documents January 29, 2009
◼ Monica Bradshaw: MISSING January 27, 2009