WARSAW, Ky. - Chuck Marksberry spoke for the first time Saturday about the knife-wielding burglar accused of killing his two youngest stepchildren and leaving his wife for dead last month.

        “My wife (Carolyn Marksberry) is scared to death,” Mr. Marksberry said after a memorial for his slain stepchildren.

WOUNDED
Courtney	Carolyn
KILLED
Cody	Chelbi

        “She is petrified to be left alone. She never wants to step foot in our house again. I should be spending all my time with her, but instead I'm trying to buy a new house so we can all be together again in our own home. I'm surprised she wants to stay in this town.”

        Hundreds of people, some from as far away as Memphis, Tenn., gathered from noon to 3 p.m. in the Gallatin County Elementary School gymnasium to pay their respects on what would have been Chelbi Sharon's 8th birthday.

        Chelbi and her 6-year-old brother, Cody Sharon, were stabbed to death in the Aug. 23 attack at their home in this rural community, 32 miles southwest of Cincinnati near the Kentucky Speedway.

        Their mother, Mrs. Marksberry, 37, was stabbed 15 times but survived - along with her oldest daughter, Courtney Sharon, 10, who was released from the hospital a day after the attacks.

        Courtney's friend Karra Robinson, 10, of Warsaw, carried a sign to the memorial that read, “I love you. I hope you and your mom get better.” She also carried yellow roses.

        “It was sad Chelbi couldn't be here to celebrate her birthday,” Karra said, “but it made me feel good to see Courtney.”

        Mrs. Marksberry, who was in seclusion after being released from the hospital Saturday, did not attend the memorial. Family members, however, said she plans to be at the funeral today. “(My wife) is not getting much rest,” Mr. Marksberry said. “She is waking up screaming, having nightmares. She needs to take care of herself first. She is in seclusion today. She is not in the best shape or in the best state of mind.”

        Physically, he said, she is way ahead of schedule. Doctors have told the family that anyone else with her injuries would be expected to be hospitalized for weeks. She underwent five hours of surgery at University Hospital and received 10 units of blood as doctors repaired stab wounds that collapsed a lung, and damaged an eye and her esophagus.

        “I've told her she had to get out of the hospital and be strong because I need her as much as she needs me,” said Mr. Marksberry, 32.

        “Together, we can get through anything that comes before us.”

No comment on Chapman

        He declined to discuss Marco Allen Chapman, the 30-year-old Boone County man whom Kentucky State Police accuse of attacking the family.

        Mr. Chapman pleaded not guilty Friday in Gallatin County District Court to two counts of murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of burglary. Judge Michael Collins set his bond at $50 million.

        Mr. Chapman is being held under heightened security at the Carroll County Regional Detention Center.

        Mr. Marksberry was in Spain at the time of the attack for job training with his company, North American Steel in Ghent.

        “My hopes and dream is that justice comes in the near future, and my wife feels the same way,” Mr. Marksberry said.

        Warsaw residents and those close to the Marksberry family have said Mr. Chapman was angry with Mrs. Marksberry for advising a friend to break off a relationship with him.

        Mr. Marksberry said Courtney is “surrounded by a blanket of love” with her fellow Girl Scouts, friends and family. Courtney, a fifth-grader at Gallatin County Upper Elementary School, has not returned to school since she escaped her attacker by playing dead. Mr. Marksberry said the preliminary plans are for Courtney to return to classes this week.

        “I believe that everyone has to mourn on their own time,” Mr. Marksberry said. “Hopefully, in the next few days, Courtney will be back with her mother and father where she belongs.”

        Courtney, who has been staying with relatives, witnessed much of the attack, according to family members, and is now seeing a psychiatrist, along with the family.

Small town shaken
        The family has received cards from as far away as Bosnia, Mr. Marksberry said, adding that he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. Earl R. Wood, the mayor of Warsaw, said the homicide has shaken the fabric of this historic Ohio River town.

        “People are locking their doors, closing their windows, turning on the air conditioner and pulling the shades for the first time in Warsaw,” Mr. Wood said.

        Calling his wife “a little social butterfly,” Mr. Marksberry said it would take her nearly two hours to run to the corner store because she stopped to talk to everyone.

        Mrs. Marksberry was recently named city clerk of Warsaw, a town of 1,800.

        “Our family was strong,” Mr. Marksberry said. “It may be a little smaller than before, but it will always be strong because we are good people.”

        Mr. Marksberry's mother, Debbie, said she had been looking forward to taking her step-grandchildren to South Carolina.

        “I just tell myself Chelbi and Cody can go to the beach anytime they want now,” Debbie Marksberry said. “They are in a better place.”

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