Prosecutors oppose trial delay sought by courthouse shooter's family

• Prosecutors cite the impact a delay would have on the young children of Christine Belford, who were made orphans as a result of the Feb. 13, 2012 shooting.
• They also say some of the need for more time for the defense results from changing defense strategies, not a huge amount of evidence to wade through.

WILMINGTON – Federal prosecutors are opposing a six-month delay in the conspiracy and stalking trial of the family of the New Castle County Courthouse shooter.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Weiss and Jamie McCall told the court Wednesday that the government would accept a delay of a couple months in the trial, currently scheduled for March 9, 2015, but strongly opposes a delay that would push the trial into the fall of 2015.

Earlier this month, attorneys for David and Lenore Matusiewicz asked U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh to delay the trial against them until at least September or October 2015, citing the massive amount of evidence that needs to be reviewed.

The attorney for co-defendant Amy Gonzalez has not yet taken a position on the issue.

Lenore is the widow of New Castle County Courthouse shooter Thomas Matusiewicz, and David and Amy are Thomas' children.

In the government's 22-page brief, which included several blacked-out pages, prosecutors claim defense attorneys overstated the volume of evidence in their motion, and that "changing defense strategies" were responsible for some delays.

McCall also cited the ongoing trauma to the children of victim Christine Belford, who were made orphans as a result of the Feb. 13, 2012, shooting.

"The young child victims suffered through the very public murder of their mother – their primary caretaker and only parent – and the loss of their lives as they knew them. Only when this case is resolved will these children have any hope of being able to move forward," prosecutors wrote in court papers.

McCall, however, wrote that prosecutors would accept a slight delay until May or June 2015.

The parental rights of David Matusiewicz, the father of three of Belford's children, were terminated after he was convicted of parental kidnapping in 2008. That was well before his father shot and killed Belford in the lobby of the New Castle County Courthouse on Feb. 11, 2013.

Thomas Matusiewicz also shot and killed Belford's friend Laura "Beth" Mulford, before he took his own life after being hit by police gunfire.

David's mother, Lenore, was also convicted in relation to the 2007 kidnapping of the three children Belford had with David.

Prosecutors charge that the three surviving members of the Matusiewicz family all conspired, along with Thomas, in a years-long campaign of harassment of Belford, before her death.

David and Lenore Matusiewicz and Amy Gonzalez have each been charged with conspiracy, cyberstalking and interstate stalking resulting in a death. If convicted of all charges, the three each face up to life in prison.

All three have denied the charges.

Contact Sean O'Sullivan at (302) 324-2777 or sosullivan@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @SeanGOSullivan