Murder suspect told to consider plea deal or face a trial

Police say that Joseph Woodard, who will turn 20 in jail next week, shot and killed a man during an attempted Chandler robbery in 2006, using a gun he stole in a Yavapai County burglary.

While in jail, police say Woodard asked a friend to kill two suspected witnesses that had talked to police. According to court records, Woodard also asked the friend to recover the murder weapon from its hiding place near his parent's house in Ahwatukee Foothills and destroy it.

Now, Woodard faces first-degree murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit murder, which could mean life behind bars.

In a hearing Tuesday Judge Connie Contes gave Woodard until the end of July to consider a plea agreement, where, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, he would have to plead guilty to first-degree murder or face his chances with an Oct. 8 trial.

Already serving a 10-year prison sentence is 17-year-old Sergio Acosta. Police say the former Mountain Pointe High School senior drove Woodard and his brother Juan Acosta to the Chandler home they planned to rob, and where Bradley Eaton, 20, was shot. Acosta pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and, in return, two other charges were dropped.

Police are still searching for Juan Acosta, 22, who fled shortly after the murder and has been on the run ever since, possibly in Mexico.

The trio were quickly identified after the shooting because a woman had called police about a suspicious car in the Chandler neighborhood and had written down the license plate number. When police arrived at the home where Eaton was shot the roommate could describe the car but didn't know the license plate number. Police quickly put two and two together and went to the Acosta home, where the vehicle was registered to Acosta's parents.

Several times Chandler police searched for the murder weapon in a wash near the 12400 block of South 38th Street, where Woodard lived with his parents. But it wasn't until they recruited the help of an amateur metal detector club that the weapon was found in 2007.

While Woodard mulls over a possible plea agreement he must also prepare for a June 25 trial in Prescott, where he is charged with burglary, theft and two counts of trafficking stolen property.

A case management conference in Maricopa County Superior Court is set for 10 a.m. June 20.