Gehman burglary trial scheduled to begin today

By Tom Blakey

Transcript Staff Writer

As his jury trial was about to begin Wednesday morning, a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant pleaded guilty to molesting an 8-year-old Norman girl last March, and was ordered to serve eight years in prison, followed by a 12-year suspended sentence.

Steven Jay Beacham, 33, Midwest City, pleaded guilty to one count of lewd molestation, and another count was dismissed as part of the plea negotiations.

Beacham will have to serve 85 percent of the eight-year sentence, or 6.8 years, before he is eligible for parole consideration.

District Judge Tom Lucas also ordered Beacham to register as a sex offender and abide by the special rules and conditions of sex offenders while on the 12-year suspended term.

According to court documents, the girl's mother contacted police, and said her daughter had told her about being sexually abused by Beacham on two occasions; once after being picked up from school and another time at home while doing school work. The girl testified in closed court at Beacham's preliminary hearing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Susan Caswell and Jennifer Austin.

Lucas allowed defense attorney William Campbell to withdraw from the case and Samuel J. Long, a California attorney, to represent Beacham, assisted by Norman defense attorney Tracy Schumacher.

Schumacher filed a motion for Long to appear pro hac vice, or for Beacham's case only, and Lucas granted the motion when informed Beacham had agreed to plead guilty.

In a separate case, a jury trial for Donald Richard Gehman, 52, Moore, is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. today in the courtroom of District Judge Lori Walkley.

Gehman is charged with second-degree burglary in the Oct. 22, 2006, break-in of a home in the 1900 block of Indian Hills Road in Moore.

In September 2005, Gehman pleaded guilty in Oklahoma County to two counts of indecent or lewd acts with a child under 16 and was ordered to serve one year in prison, followed by a nine-year suspended sentence. He also was required to register as a sex offender and abide by special rules and conditions of sex offenders while on the suspended term.

A motion to revoke the suspended sentence was filed Nov. 28, 2006, and a bench warrant issued for Gehman's arrest.

Also today, Assistant District Attorney Rick Sitzman has said he plans to dismiss and re-file murder charges against Michael Burton, 20, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Martin Hughes, 47, of Wylie, Texas. Hughes was in Norman to supervise a swimming pool construction project and checked into the Guest Inn, 2543 W. Main St., May 30, 2006. Hughes was shot in the neck the next morning as he sat in his pickup truck in the motel parking lot.

Prosecutors contend Burton and Alexander Hixson, 19, shot Hughes to steal his pickup truck.

Hixson recently pleaded guilty to an amended charge of accessory to murder and other related charges, and was ordered to serve 25 years in prison. As part of the plea negotiations, Hixson will be expected to testify against Burton, prosecutors said.

At a hearing Monday morning, Lucas denied a motion filed by prosecutors requesting the first-degree murder case be remanded back to preliminary hearing, so that a "lesser included charge" of felony murder could be added.

Prosecutors then announced their intent to dismiss and re-file the charges, so the alternative charge could be added,

Prosecutors would be required to prove malice aforethought with the first-degree murder charge. With the alternative charge of felony murder, prosecutors would only have to show that a murder occurred in connection with a felony, i.e. stealing the truck.

With the expected re-filing of charges, Burton will not go on trial until September or afterward, according to court officials.

Sitzman is prosecuting the case, and Schumacher is representing Burton.

Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com