PTC murder trial to start Monday

Thu, 05/10/2007 - 11:20am
By: John Munford

A woman who shot and killed her ex-husband in the parking lot of the NCR plant in Peachtree City Oct. 26 will go on trial for murder Monday.

Police said April Dawn Ulrich, 46, killed Eric Paul Ulrich by shooting him with a handgun concealed by a bag after she called him to meet her in the parking lot.

April Ulrich is charged with one count of felony murder for the killing itself and one count of malice murder because authorities contend she planned the killing. She also is charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

In court filings her defense attorney has indicated she will pursue a defense of “insanity, mental incompetence or mental retardation” at trial.

The Citizen learned shortly after the incident from several sources that Ulrich visited her 6-year-old daughter at Huddleston Elementary immediately prior to the shooting, pulling the child out of class and leaving a plastic zipper bag containing wedding rings in the girl’s bookbag.

Eric Ulrich had custody of the girl and was living in Peachtree City while working at NCR, officials said.

Police said that immediately after shooting her ex-husband with a .38-cal. handgun, April Ulrich didn’t make any attempt to drive away from the scene. The first officer was there within two minutes of the shooting being reported, police said.

Ulrich has remained in jail since the shooting, as Fayette County Superior Court Judge Christopher C. Edwards determined she was a potential flight risk.

Assistant Public Defender George Weldon has petitioned the court for funds to employ a psychiatrist, psychologist and/or other medical doctors to assist in her defense in case the funds are unavailable from the public defender’s office.

Among persons who may be called to testify for the defense are several staffers from the Fayette County Jail, according to documents filed by Weldon.

On the prosecution’s witness list are 19 Peachtree City police officers in addition to several employees of NCR among others.
Just because a person is listed as a witness in a case doesn’t necessarily mean they will be called to testify at trial.

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