Court Hearing For Ex-KLETC Instructor Closed To Media and Public

KINGMAN (AP) – A Kingman County judge says he closed a pretrial hearing in a first-degree murder case against a former law enforcement instructor because didn’t want to taint the jury pool in a county of about 7,800 residents.

With a jury pool of less than 5,000 people, Kingman County Judge Larry Solomon says he didn’t want to risk any of them being exposed to inadmissible evidence that could prevent Brett Seacat from getting a fair trial.

The Kingman man is accused of intentional murder in the shooting death of his wife, Vashti, in their home last year. Investigators found her body among the charred remains of the home where the couple lived with their two sons, ages 2 and 4.

Seacat has pleaded not guilty. His defense team has suggested Vashti Seacat committed suicide, based on a coroner’s inability to rule her death a homicide due to the condition of her body.

His trial is scheduled to begin in December.