Surprise, surprise.

◼ DA's office (Paul Gallegos) still undecided in Bradshaw case; Gallegos to talk to pathologist next week May 28, 2010
The Humboldt County District Attorney's Office has yet to decide whether to pursue a murder charge against a McKinleyville who has admitted to killing his wife but claims he acted in self-defense.

Robin Stuart Bradshaw, 57, entered into a plea agreement last December under which he pleaded guilty to a single count of voluntary manslaughter upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion and agreed to lead police to the body of his wife of 30 years, Monica Bradshaw, 53, which he had buried in an undeveloped area outside McKinleyville some 18 months earlier. He faces a 12-year prison sentence under the agreement.

But, that agreement is contingent on forensic pathologist Dr. Mark Super's autopsy examination of the remains finding forensic evidence that corroborates Robin Bradshaw's version of events -- that he struck his wife over the head and shoulders two or three times with a metal bar, but only after she first assaulted him with the weapon.

Last week, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos received Super's report, which listed blunt force injuries as the cause of Monica Bradshaw's death, but suggested she may have suffered other injuries that could contradict her husband's story. In addition to finding evidence that Monica Bradshaw suffered at least one sever blunt impact to the head that fractured her skull, Super's report also notes that both ends of her hyoid bone -- a horseshoe-shaped bone found in the middle of the neck -- were fracturedoff, which could indicate strangulation.

Thursday, Robin Bradshaw appeared before Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Joyce Hinrichs, who set a June 29 sentencing date for the defendant. After the hearing, Robin Bradshaw's attorney, Peter Martin, said he assumed the DA's office would not be seeking to vacate the plea agreement, as it agreed to move forward with sentencing.

”The fact that the DA has suggested sentencing indicates to me that they are not going to withdraw the plea,” he said.
Gallegos, who was not present at the hearing, said later that is not necessarily the case.

”We're still analyzing and evaluating the evidence we have,” Gallegos said, adding that he also has a consultation with Super scheduled for next week and has made no final decision on how to proceed with the case....

Maybe he can try another ploy - I know, how about he makes the plea contingent on a lie detector test, and then when he fails that he can still go along with the deal - hey, it' worked before, no one will EVER E-V-E-N THINK of questioning Paul. Why is everybody always picking on him?/

PREVIOUSLY:
◼ 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
To recap: The husband of a McKinleyville woman who has been missing since September 2008 allegedly had his girlfriend impersonate his wife in an effort to retrieve her car from a local tow yard months after his wife's disappearance, according to an affidavit for a search warrant filed with the Humboldt County Superior Court on Monday....

...A Sheriff's Office investigator was later dispatched to the Bradshaws' home on Dow's Prairie Road in McKinleyville and spoke with Robin Bradshaw, who allegedly told the investigator that he and his wife had been married for 30 years before she “up and vanished,” according to the affidavit.

Robin Bradshaw, according to the affidavit, then allegedly changed his story to say that his wife was down south with some friends, before changing it again to say that she went to visit her brother in Utah.

”As (the investigator) was speaking with Robin, he noticed that he was sweating and shaking throughout the interview,” the affidavit states, adding that Robin Bradshaw also could not stand still as if he were “tense and very nervous.”

The investigator later called Monica Bradshaw's brother in Utah and was told by the brother he had not talked with his sister in about eight years, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also states that Robin Bradshaw reportedly told the investigator that he had been seeing a girlfriend for about three months.

Last week, neighbors of the Bradshaw's property said they last saw Monica Bradshaw in August or September, when she and her husband set off to bury a neighbor's horse on a nearby property with a backhoe. They said the backhoe remained on the couple's property for some time, and they witnessed the husband doing some excavating work in the yard.

Some neighbors said they grew suspicious after Robin Bradshaw offered differing accounts as to his wife's location. Several neighbors said Bradshaw's husband first told them that his wife died of cancer, then later said she died years ago. He told them the woman they had come to know for the six or so years that he had lived in the neighborhood was actually Monica Bradshaw's sister. Then, neighbors said, Robin Bradshaw told them that his wife suffers from depression and had left the area.

Sheriff's Office Detective Karen Quinnel also interviewed Robin Bradshaw on his property, according to the affidavit, and reportedly learned that he had poured a concrete patio in the summer of 2008, soon after his wife's disappearance.

”Again, throughout the contact, Robin Bradshaw appeared nervous and tense,” the affidavit states....