Shubert Murder Trial Gets Underway Today in Carnesville

The trial of accused murderer Brent Shubert is expected to get underway today in Superior Court in Carnesville.

Shubert is the Franklin County man accused in the 2013 strangulation murder of his fiancee, Bonnie Ann Cooner.

Opening arguments are expected today, but no jury selection.

Originally a death penalty trial, it was to have taken place September 28th, but Shubert’s attorney worked out a deal with the DA for a bench trial, meaning Shubert’s case will be heard by and decided by a judge and not a jury.

Had a jury trial gone forward, it would have cost Franklin County around $300,000 – money the County doesn’t have.

Additionally, the trial was pushed from September to today after Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White requested a continuance.

White told Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Malcom evidence relevant to the guilt of Shubert was still being processed in late September at the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta.

Cooner went missing in late January 2013 from the home she and her son shared with Shubert on Unawatti Road in Canon.

An intensive search was launched to find Cooner that involved Franklin County Sheriff’s investigators, the GBI as well as friends and relatives.

Cooner’s body was found two weeks later in early February, 2013 down an abandoned well near her home.  An autopsy determined she had been strangled.

Shubert was arrested several hours later in Anderson, SC and returned to Franklin County.

In March of 2013, a Franklin County Grand Jury indicted Shubert on one count of malice murder, one count of felony murder and one count of concealing the death of another.

Since then, he has been held without bond in the Franklin County Detention Center.