Prosecutors drop bid for 1 trial for 2 charged in teen death

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Prosecutors have withdrawn a request to try a man and woman together in the rape and killing of her 14-year-old adopted daughter in Pennsylvania.

An attorney for 43-year-old Sara Packer says prosecutors’ decision Monday means that, absent a guilty plea, there will be two homicide trials in the death of Grace Packer.

The judge will rule later on a defence request to bar prosecutors from using statements by 44-year-old co-defendant Jacob Sullivan.

Bucks County prosecutors allege Packer watched Sullivan act out a rape-murder fantasy in July 2016. They say the couple stored the girl’s body in cat litter for months, then dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it.

Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty against Sullivan and possibly Packer as well.