Defense to Ask Judge to Suppress Confession in Henning Postal Murders

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A defense attorney said Monday he will ask a judge to throw out a videotaped statement in which a former Tennessee prison guard acknowledged killing two postal workers during a robbery that netted $63.

Michael Scholl told District Judge Jon McCalla on Monday that he wants to bar federal prosecutors from using at trial the videotaped and written statements made by Chastain Montgomery after his arrest in February.

During a prior hearing, prosecutors showed excerpts of an interrogation by postal service investigators in which Montgomery, 47, said he needed money and decided to rob the post office in Henning with his 18-year-old son.

Montgomery said he "lost it" and started shooting after he realized there was only $63 in the post office.

Montgomery is charged with robbing the rural post office last October and, with his son, shooting workers Judy Spray and Paula Robinson.

Chastain Montgomery Jr. was killed in a shootout with police Feb. 14. The father was arrested after showing up to the scene of his son's shooting in a car that investigators said was seen fleeing the post office four months earlier.

Montgomery has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. He could face the death penalty if federal prosecutors decide to seek a capital sentence.

McCalla set a projected trial date for April 2012. He also set a June 24th deadline for the defense to file its motion to suppress Montgomery's statements.