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LDS missionary takes stand in Virginia shooting hearing
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Joshua Heidbrink was standing with fellow Mormon missionary Morgan Young when he heard a shot fired down the street and saw a man in a dark hooded sweat shirt come running toward them, gun in hand.

''I raised both my hands and said, 'Hey, we didn't see anything,' '' Heidbrink, 19, of Greeley, Colo., testified Monday at a preliminary hearing for James R. Boughton Jr., who is accused of wounding him and killing Young on Jan. 2. The missionaries had been going door to door evangelizing.

The man shot Heidbrink, who said he heard a pop and a flash, then saw Young fall forward and the shooter flee.

At the end of Monday's three-hour hearing, defense attorney Kenneth Melvin argued the case was weak because witnesses could not identify Boughton as the gunman.

General District Court Judge Timothy S. Wright said he agreed but found probable cause to send first-degree murder and other charges against Boughton to a grand jury, which will consider them July 5. Wright also denied Melvin's request to set bail for Boughton, 19.

Prosecutors said Boughton's DNA was found on the gun and that tracking dogs led police to a hooded sweat shirt belonging to Boughton nearby.

Boughton is charged with the first-degree murder of Young, 21, of Bountiful, Utah; the malicious wounding of Heidbrink; the attempted malicious wounding of another man; and use of a firearm to commit those felonies.

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