Graduate student formally indicted for murder

IU graduate student Julie Rea was formally informed of her indictment on two counts of murder Wednesday in the Monroe County Courthouse. If found guilty, Rea faces the possibility of the death penalty.\nRea, an educational psychology graduate student, is accused of stabbing her 10-year-old son Joel Kirkpatrick to death in October 1997, in her apartment in Lawrenceville, Ill.\nJudge Douglas Bridges set the date of Rea's next court appearance at 9 a.m. Dec.15. It will be a determination of probable cause, which will be challenged by Rea's defense lawyer Katherine Liell, and co-council Theresa Harper.\n"We look forward to the opportunity of defending Julie's innocence," Liell said.\nLawrenceville Sheriff Steve Chansler confirmed that Rea's son died from stab wounds, but refused to comment further on circumstances of the murder. Chansler said he could not release information because the case is still open.\nThe outcome of the hearing will determine whether Rea will be extradited to Illinois to face the capital charges and perhaps lethal injection. Illinois' history of executions has faced a good deal of scrutiny. Since 1977, more death row inmates were exonerated than executed.\nHarper is firm in her conviction of Rea's innocence and said most of her three years in Rea's defense have been spent pursuing the killer of Joel Kirkpatrick.\n"Julie is devastated by this indictment and has vowed to continue her fight to bring the true killer or killers to justice," Harper said.\nHarper said although their search has yet to produce a concrete suspect, "there have been some people identified and turned over to the police in Illinois, but capital cases simply take a long time."\nRea is currently being held at the Monroe County Jail without bail.