CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Two of the three Americans facing trial for a conspiracy to kidnap five children from the Shenandoah Valley’s Old Order Mennonite community and kill their parents appeared in Harrisonburg federal court on Friday.
Valerie Hayes and co-defendant Jennifer Amnott attended the status conference. Co-defendant Gary Reburn, Hayes’ then-boyfriend, did not attend the hearing, which lasted almost an hour. Hayes, Reburn, and Amnott escaped to Scotland days after the 2018 failed attempt. Frank Amnott, Jennifer Amnott’s husband, was arrested at the scene and entered a plea agreement under which he will be a witness. All face charges that could carry life sentences.
The parties agreed on a trial date of Feb. 1, 2027. The prosecution hopes to complete the trial within three weeks, but because the case is so complex, the judge set aside four weeks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Welsh told the court that discovery is made up of approximately 11,000 pages including several videos and audio recordings, as well as still awaited items such as camera footage, jail calls, recordings of interviews, Facebook records, and discovery related to numerous electronic devices. The discovery also includes several grand jury transcripts and records produced in response to approximately 60 subpoenaed documents. Welsh also told the judge that five to six of the trial’s witnesses will be flown in from Scotland.
The three have been held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail since their October arraignments in Charlottesville federal court. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon will meet with the Western District’s U.S. Marshals Service this week to determine whether they will stay at ACRJ or the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail as they await trial.
