Status hearing set in shooting case
by Lisa Neff. Islander Reporter
An early trial date of April 7 was set for Mark W. Koenigs, the man accused of shooting an Island businesswoman minutes after she opened her store.
Koenigs, 54, faces multiple charges in connection with the shooting of Island Mail & More owner Sue Normand.
A Bradenton Beach property owner and sometime resident, Koenigs has pleaded not guilty to charges associated with the shooting: one count of first-degree aggravated battery with a firearm, three counts of first-degree aggravated assault on law enforcement with a firearm and one count of third-degree aggravated assault with a firearm.
Koenigs was arrested on Dec. 5., 2007, on the Gulf shore in Bradenton Beach after a confrontation with law enforcement officers.
Police were searching for a man named “Mark” who had walked into Island Mail & More at about 10 a.m., removed a gun from a box and shot Normand, who spent several weeks in the hospital before coming back to the Island. While still recuperating, she is expected to move from temporary lodging back to her elevated Holmes Beach home Feb. 1. But she is not expected to be able to walk for at least six months.
The morning of the shooting, Koenigs was seen from a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter and approached by police on the beach. He was shot just before his arrest after allegedly aiming a gun at two sheriff’s deputies.
Koenigs has refused to talk with investigators about the case. Any motive in the shooting remains a mystery to law enforcement and Normand.
A docket sounding, which is a status review of the case, will take place at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 26, at the Manatee County Courthouse in Bradenton.
If the defense and prosecution are ready, Koenigs, represented by public defender Peter Belmont, could stand trial as early as Monday, April 7.
That, however, seems unlikely. Many trial dates are pushed back at the courthouse for various reasons and numerous docket soundings can occur before the case goes before a jury.
In the Koenigs case, there are still witness lists and statements, expert reports, discovery depositions and other documents to be filed with the court. |
