COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A judge has ordered a Fort Carson soldier to stand trial for first-degree murder in the death of a woman whose throat was slashed after she was bound and gagged in the foothills west of Colorado Springs.
Judge Larry E. Schwartz also says Spc. Robert Hull Marko must face charges of first-degree kidnapping and sex assault on a child in an abduction involving a 14-year-old girl that allegedly happened five days before the Oct. 10 slaying.
Tuesday’s ruling followed two days of testimony in a preliminary hearing in El Paso County District Court.
Marko, a 21-year-old Iraq war veteran, is accused of killing 19-year-old Judilianna “Judi” Lawrence, whose naked body was found in a wooded area after a four-day search.
Prosecutors say Marko befriended Lawrence on MySpace and eventually led authorities to her body.
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Information from: The Gazette,
