Couple charged in adopted Russian boy's death get more time for filings

By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News

The Carroll Township couple accused of killing their 7-year-old adopted son have been given more time to file their pretrial motions contesting their homicide charges and arrests.
Michael and Nanette Craver are charged with first-degree murder for allegedly beating and neglecting the boy they adopted in Russia in 2003.

Nathaniel Craver, died Aug. 25, 2009, at Hershey Medical Center of complications from traumatic brain injury coupled with a "severe failure to thrive," according to medical testimony at the Cravers' April 29 preliminary hearing.

Michael Craver, 45, and Nanette Craver, 54, who are facing capital murder prosecutions, were to have filed their motions in York County Common Pleas Court by Sept. 1.

Attorneys for the defendants asked Judge John S. Kennedy for more time after receiving discovery materials from the district attorney's office.

In their joint petition, the attorneys informed Kennedy they received discovery on compact disc on July 13. It took three days for that information -- more than 5,000 pages -- to be printed, they said.

The defense asked for additional time to file "due to the amount of information received and the complexity of some of the information."

The attorneys also asked that the Sept. 22 pre-trial hearing be postponed until sometime after Oct. 18. The district attorney's office did not challenge the request.

Kennedy ordered the defense to file their motions by Oct. 18. No date has been set for the pre-trial conference.