SAN DIEGO -- A trial date could be set Thursday for a man accused of strangling a female acquaintance after watching her have sex with two other people, then stuffing her body into a suitcase and putting it out with the trash.
Joshua Matthew Palmer, 32, is charged with murder and special circumstance allegations that could lead to the death penalty if he's convicted in the death of 21-year-old Shauna Haynes. He will be asked to enter a plea at today's post-preliminary hearing arraignment.
A witness, Chelsea Shea, testified this month at a preliminary hearing, which is designed to enable a judge to decide if there are grounds for trial, that she had drinks with Palmer at a bar on April 4 and agreed to go back to his room at the Chadwick Hotel on A Street. She and Palmer were having sex when Haynes arrived with a man named Anthony Kern, Shea said.
The witness testified that she, Kern and Haynes eventually had sex together, but Palmer just "stood there," then "told us to leave."
Shea testified that she left with Kern and asked Haynes if she wanted to come along, but Haynes said she wanted to stay with Palmer.
A few hours after the early morning sexual encounter, Palmer called 911, saying his girlfriend was missing, a detective testified. When contacted, Palmer had red knuckles on both his hands, according to the detective.
Police got a search warrant and seized video files from Palmer's cell phone, showing an unconscious Haynes.
In another clip, Palmer is heard to say, "I'm sorry I love you, but I can't watch you having sex with somebody else. God I'm sorry."
Deputy District Attorney Martin Doyle alleged that Palmer -- who worked with Haynes at the Spaghetti Factory restaurant -- stuffed her body into a suitcase and threw it out with the garbage.
The morning of April 6, a guest at the hotel in the 600 block of A Street found the suitcase containing the victim's body near a row of trash cans alongside a parking area at the rear of the three-story building.
Palmer was arrested two days later.
