BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- A pretrial hearing will be conducted July 10 for Franklin Saunders, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the shooting death earlier this month of his former girlfriend.
Mr. Saunders is charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and having a weapon while under disability. He had been barred from possessing weapons after a 1986 felonious-assault conviction in Adams County involving his former wife, prosecutors said.
If convicted of the new charges, Mr. Saunders could face the death penalty.
The 39-year-old from Blue Ash is being held in the Butler County Jail without bond.
Police and relatives of Lisa Weber say Mr. Saunders dragged her into his car June 9 and drove away from the parking lot of a pharmacy where she worked in southern Union Township. Hours after her disappearance, Ms. Weber's body was discovered in woods near Muhlhauser Road in Union Township.
Mr. Saunders surrendered the next morning.
Mr. Saunders had been stalking Ms. Weber, 38, of Fairfield, police and family members said.
On June 18, Judge John Moser of Butler County Common Pleas Court ordered that Mr. Saunders undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether he's competent to stand trial.
