Joshua Hupperterz, a former student charged with the murder of junior media and film arts major Jenna Burleigh, is maintaining that he did not kill her, his attorney said.
David Nenner, Hupperterz’s private attorney, told The Temple News after a pretrial conference on Wednesday outside a Philadelphia courtroom that his client’s position has not changed.
“He’s not saying he wasn’t involved in moving the body,” Nenner told The Temple News.
After a court appearance in September, Nenner told media outside a Philadelphia courtroom that Hupperterz “did not cause any harm to” Burleigh.
In November at a seven-hour-long preliminary hearing, 10 witnesses were called by the prosecution to testify about the night Burleigh went missing, up until several days later when her body was found more than 100 miles from Main Campus in Wayne County, Pennsylvania on the property of Hupperterz’s grandmother.
During this hearing, the prosecution submitted evidence, including surveillance camera footage of Hupperterz moving a plastic container from his home on 16th Street near Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Aug. 31, 2017.
He was the last person seen with Burleigh on Aug. 31.
Police said Burleigh died from strangulation and blunt force trauma in Hupperterz’s home near Main Campus. Hupperterz will be tried on charges of murder, tampering with corpse and separate drug-related crimes.
At Wednesday’s hearing, a representative from the prosecution provided Nenner with 11 of the 17 pieces of evidence that he requested to build a case before trial. The other six pieces of evidence — containing mainly crime scene material from outside of Philadelphia County — will be provided before the next pretrial hearing.
This case is multi-jurisdictional, including Philadelphia, Lackawanna and Montgomery counties, a state representative said during the hearing.
Nenner said he is still investigating Jack Miley, Hupperterz’s roommate, and his involvement in Burleigh’s murder. Miley, who Nenner called “the kid who keeps disappearing” on Wednesday, was subpoenaed by the defense at November’s preliminary hearing, but neither Miley nor his defense were in court.
Another pretrial conference will occur on March 27, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Kathryn Lewis said during the conference.
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