Chilling comments from two teenagers accused of stabbing a boy to death at a Wyoming shopping center days before the murder have been heard in court.
Jarreth (JJ) Plunkett and Dominique Harris, both 15, tried as adults for the murder of 14-year-old Robert ‘Bobby’ Maher.
The two are accused of fatally stabbing Maher on April 7 while he was trying to protect his girlfriend, whom the couple was following.
It has now emerged that just two days before the murder, one of the suspects stated that he wanted to “gut” Maher, according to police.
Casper Police Detective Tiffany Elhart testified at a preliminary hearing that Harris told officers that Plunkett had said he wanted to “gut that guy.” Cowboy State Diary reports.
14-year-old Robert Maher (who called himself Bobby) was stabbed to death in a Wyoming shopping center on April 7.
Jarreth (JJ) Plunkett and Dominique Harris, both 15, are accused of fatally stabbing the teenager (pictured) while trying to protect his girlfriend.
Casper Police Detective Tiffany Elhart testified at a preliminary hearing that Harris told officers that Plunkett had said he wanted to “gut that guy” before the stabbing at the Eastridge shopping center.
Elhart added that the defendants also asked Maher’s best friend if he wanted to engage in a “blood debt” during a separate conversation.
The disturbing comments were part of evidence presented by prosecutors who successfully argued that the accused killers should be tried as adults.
Elhart told the court that Maher had first been placed on the defendants’ radar over spring break after he asked them if they were “freaks” after seeing them enter a urinal together.
Other evidence included disturbing video of the Eastridge Mall stabbing that showed Maher being stabbed twice in the stomach with a stolen blade.
Elhart said surveillance video from a nearby Target showed Plunkett and Harris stealing two 3 1/2-inch kitchen knives on the day of the attack.
Interviews with them and Maher’s girlfriend revealed that after they saw her at the mall they began following her and asking her if Maher would show up, according to Elhart.
Then Maher’s girlfriend, Haley Bressler, called him and asked him to come to the mall, Elhart said, adding that when he arrived, another teen told Harris and Plunkett that he didn’t think a fight would be fair.
Harris told investigators that Plunkett “took the knife out of his pocket, put it to his chest and told him he was going to stab him,” Elhart testified.
According to police interviews, there was a previous incident at a park in Evansville between Maher and the suspects, who claimed he called them “freaks” after seeing them enter a urinal together.
Maher’s friend told police that Dom threw Maher to the ground before JJ walked up and stabbed him right outside the mall.
Robert ‘Bobby’ Maher’s father, Robert Maher Sr., told DailyMail.com: “It’s a nightmare we can’t get out of our heads; it repeats itself over and over again.”
Although a video of the brutal attack was presented as evidence, it has not yet been published.
Cowboy State Daily reports that footage shows Plunkett shoving Maher and then punching him in the face before Harris’ body slams the victim to the ground.
As he restrains him, Plunkett lunges and strikes his body twice with a knife before both defendants retreat.
Plunkett faces a charge of first-degree murder and he and Harris are being charged as adults with criminal conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and battery and misdemeanor robbery.
Plunkett faces a possible life sentence or even the death penalty if convicted of the murder charge.
Police responded to the scene after receiving a call about an unconscious child outside the Hibachi Supreme Buffet in the mall.
An affidavit says Maher was stabbed twice during “an altercation that just occurred.”
Witnesses told police that the alleged attackers, whom they said were named JJ and Dom, were wearing balaclava-style hooded masks.
Bobby’s heartbroken girlfriend Hailey described him as “the bravest boy” at a vigil for the murdered 14-year-old.
Maher is pictured with a friend in a tribute shared on Facebook after her death. It is unclear if she is one of the girls he was protecting from her when she died.
Flowers are left at the Robert Dean Maher memorials in Casper, Wyoming
In a police interview, Plunkett allegedly said Maher told him to “put the knife away, this isn’t fair.”
Plunkett claimed that Jarreth responded, “I don’t fight fair.”
Bobby’s father told DailyMail.com that he arrived at the hospital and saw doctors fighting in vain to save his son.
“I broke down, I was inconsolable for a while. As Bobby’s body lay on the stretcher, I told him how much I loved him and begged him to please come back.
He added that the family is struggling to adjust to life without him.
“Mornings are the worst,” he said. ‘When I wake up every morning it’s a nightmare that has come true.
‘In the morning it takes me hours to even be able to speak. Her mother and her siblings are devastated because we can barely function. I would never wish this on anyone.’