Update on September 15th Preliminary Hearing

Last night our family came together so my brothers, husband and father could give Carly a blessing. This morning we, along with more family and friends, gathered at the courthouse to support her in one of the hardest things she will have to do in her life. I sat with her in the hallway until she was called in to testify. We waited between the double doors, but when they brought the defendant back in the room Carly noticed him and physically pulled away from the door and started crying and shaking, saying she didn't want to go in. I couldn't do anything but hold on to her and cry. They agreed to call another witness so Carly could have some time to calm down. We went back out to a room in the hallway and said a prayer and when it was her turn again, she was still reluctant, but was able walk in and make it up to the stand. She did very well when she was up there.

We were surrounded by amazing friends and family, as well as the attorneys, detective and social worker we are working with. I am so grateful for their hard work and their support. It makes this that much easier feeling that they care about us and are working so hard on behalf of our family and our mother. We appreciate them so much.

All three charges still stand and arraignment is set for September 28, 2008.

KSL story here:

Man to Stand Trial for Murdering Ex-Girlfriend
KSL.com

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Magna man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in front of her daughter has been ordered to stand trial.

Police say Charles Gunkel broke into the home of Molly Robbins and stabbed her repeatedly in Aug. 8, 2008.

Her 14-year-old daughter was home at the time and ran to a neighbor's house to call 911.

The daughter testified Tuesday during the preliminary hearing.

Prosecutors could decide to seek the death penalty.



Deseret News story here:

Daugher Describes Moments Before Mother's Death
Linda Thomson
Deseret News

Several people heard him say he stabbed Molly Robbins last summer.

And Robbins' teenage daughter testified she saw him pinning her mother down on a bedroom floor while brandishing a knife the day her mother died.

"He said, 'I'm going to jail anyway,' and he told me to 'call 911 afterward,' " the visibly upset 15-year-old said from the witness stand.

Charles Richard Gunkel, 54, of Magna, is charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony that could become a capital case if prosecutors choose to make it one. He also is charged with aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.

Third District Judge Deno Himonas Tuesday ordered Gunkel to stand trial for the death of Gunkel's longtime girlfriend. He will be arraigned Sept. 28, and prosecutors have 60 days after that to declare whether they intend to seek the death penalty if Gunkel is convicted.

The charges stem from an Aug. 8, 2008, incident in which police say Gunkel broke into a Magna house and confronted Robbins, 51, with whom he had an on-again, off-again romance for five years.

The couple had broken up about a month earlier and Robbins may have fallen in love with another man.

Robbins' daughter testified Gunkel came to the front door and wanted to see her mother, but neither would open the locked screen door. The girl went into the kitchen to resume working on a computer. The teen said she heard Gunkel demand, "Are you married?" to her mother, who answered no. She said he then asked, "Are you going to get married?" to which her mother replied, "Yes."

After that, the girl said she heard a suspicious sound and her mother cry out, "Chuck, stop!" and "Chuck, please don't do this!" along with "wrestling noises" and a loud thud. The girl raced to her mother's bedroom.

Inside, she said she saw her mother on the floor with Gunkel pinning her mother's arms down with his legs, one of his hands strangling Robbins' neck and the other pointing a knife at her mother's shoulder.

"He told me to get in there and sit on the bed. He just kept choking my mom," the girl said in a soft, emotion-choked voice. "I kept yelling at him to stop and he said, 'Shut up,' or he would cut me, too. "

Gunkel at one point aimed the knife at the girl's legs, but she managed to get away to the home of a neighbor who called 911.

Other witnesses testified they heard Gunkel say he had stabbed Robbins and he spoke with a Salt Lake County sheriff's detective about Robbins' condition while being taken in for questioning.

Robbins, a popular second-grade teacher and mother of five, died from five stab wounds to the abdomen.



Salt Lake Tribue story here:

Man Ordered to Stand Trial in Knife Slaying of Ex-Girlfriend
Stephen Hunt
Salt Lake Tribune

Fifteen-year-old Carly Robbins refused to look at the man accused of fatally stabbing her mother last year at their Magna home.

The teen took the witness stand Tuesday in 3rd District Court and immediately turned her back on Charles "Chuck" Richard Gunkel, who is charged with first-degree felony aggravated murder -- a potential death-penalty offense -- for stabbing 51-year-old Morena Molly Robbins five times in the abdomen on Aug. 8, 2008.

Carly Robbins then recounted how Gunkel stood on the front porch and begged her mother not to marry another man; how Gunkel broke through the locked screen door, pinned her mother to the bedroom floor, choked her and brandished a knife; how she escaped to call police and paramedics -- who arrived too late to save her mother's life.

Following the testimony from the girl and others at the preliminary hearing, Judge Deno Himonas ordered Gunkel to stand trial for murder, as well as felony counts of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault.

Gunkel, 54 and Molly Robbins had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for about five years, according to testimony. Then, about three weeks prior to the slaying, Gunkel learned Robbins was seeing someone else.

"Don't do this. Don't get married," Gunkel said to Molly Robbins before breaking open the door, according to Carly Robbins.

Moments later, the girl saw Gunkel on top of her mother, choking her with one hand and a pocket knife in the other. She said her mother was saying, "Chuck, please don't do this."

The girl testified that Gunkel ordered her into the bedroom and onto the bed. He then pointed the knife at her and said, "Shut up or I'll cut you, too."

Moments later, the girl fled the room, ran next door and called 911.

By the time paramedics arrived, Robbins -- an elementary school teacher and the mother of five children -- was dead.

An autopsy showed she bled to death from wounds that penetrated her heart, aorta, liver and two major blood veins.

After the stabbing, Gunkel returned to his own home, located about a half-mile away, where he called his ex-wife and told her about the slaying, according to testimony.

Later, in exchange for a cigarette, Gunkel told Salt Lake County Sheriff's Det. Chad Reyes he went to talk to Robbins after learning she had "moved on and found another boyfriend."

But after noting that Robbins had not wanted to talk to him, Gunkel stopped talking and asked for a lawyer, Reyes testified. The knife was found in the bushes in front of Robbins' home.

Gunkel is to appear in court again Sept. 28 for a scheduling hearing before Judge William Barrett. Prosecutors will then have 60 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty.



Some of the statements in this story are not very accurate but it's a story...
ABC 4 story here:

Prosecutors May Seek Death Penalty in Magna Murder
ABC4.com

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) Prosecutors may seek the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death after she broke up with him. 51 year old Charles Gunkel was bound over for trial on Tuesday.
He is charged with forcing his way into the Magna home of Morena Robbins and stabbing her five times in the abdomen. Robbins' teenage daughter was injured, but she was able to get away and go to a neighbor's house for help. That daughter took the witness stand on Tuesday.
Gunkel's trial was delayed for several months because his defense reported he was hearing voices. But he has been found competent for trial.