LAS VEGAS -- The husband of a Las Vegas teacher found dead in a desert lot will stand trial for her murder.
Mary Beth Franta's body was found behind an Albertson's shopping center near Craig Road and Tenaya. Mark Franta is charged with murdering Mary Beth Franta in November in a domestic dispute. Franta appeared in court for his preliminary hearing on Friday morning. A judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to proceed with a trial. His arraignment date has been set for January 25.
Prosecutors played the surveillance video from stores that ring this shopping center. They say it shows Mark Franta driving his wife's car in the early morning hours just after she went missing, just feet away where her body was later found.
Mary Beth Franta was a middle school teacher and well-known in the local equestrian community.
Multiple witnesses testified at the preliminary hearing. Crime scene analysts and forensic pathologists described how her body appeared to be severely beaten in the face. Her husband was arrested days later.
A detective testified he overheard Mark Franta give a near-confession to his two children.
"I believe what I heard him say was, 'I'm sorry I killed mom,'" said Las Vegas homicide detective Clifford Mogg.
"Essentially, what he says is he doesn't remember what happened that night. But if, as the police told him is true, essentially relying on what the police told him than it must be true and he apologized to his kids. He wasn't confessing," said Franta's defense attorney Christy Craig.
When it comes to remembering what happened, the defense says he drank too much at a party he was at. They say that explains why police officers found him walking around Rainbow Boulevard and U.S. 95 at 3 a.m. that morning trying to hitch a ride.
In a separate issue, the judge ruled the Mary Beth Franta's SUV, which was impounded for evidence, be returned to her children at no cost.
Police took the vehicle because they believe that Mark Franta used it to dispose of his wife's body. The SUV was towed to a local towing yard where it has sat for nearly two months and incurred a storage and towing bill of $2,700.
The judge said Franta's children would not have to pay the bill to get their mother's vehicle back.
Mark Franta
Mary Beth Franta
