State-Journal.com - Alleged gunmen plead innocent

Photo By Kelly MackeyChristopher Beagle Sr., right, pleads innocent to wanton endangerment in Franklin Circuit Court Friday with his temporary attorney Rodney Barnes.

Photo By Kelly MackeyMitchell Engler, left, pleads innocent to wanton endangerment in Franklin Circuit Court Friday with his temporary attorney Rodney Barnes.

Photo By Kelly MackeyChristopher Beagle Jr., left, pleads innocent to wanton endangerment in Franklin Circuit Court Friday with his temporary attorney Rodney Barnes.

Photo By Kelly MackeyAnthony Engler, right, pleads innocent to wanton endangerment in Franklin Circuit Court Friday with his temporary attorney Scott Getsinger.

The four men arrested after a shootout between their Bald Knob residences have pleaded innocent and the court and attorneys are trying to figure out how they should be represented.

Christopher T. Beagle Sr., 41, and Christopher T. Beagle Jr., 18, Mitchell Engler, 52, and Anthony Engler, 32, appeared in court Friday to answer to multiple wanton endangerment charges from the Sept. 9 arrest.

Attorneys in Franklin Circuit Court said there's a conflict of interest if they're to be represented by the Department of Public Advocacy, though public defenders were on hand for the arraignment.

Mitch Engler, along with his wife, April, have a separate pending indictment in circuit court after a pickup stolen in Berea wound up in their driveway. Public defender Kristin Gonzalez is handling the case.

Attorneys said the cause of the long-standing feud " who started the shooting and why " is not clear. It involves the pairs of fathers and sons allegedly shooting at one another between their residences on St. Johns Road.

Prosecutors said the case got more complicated when all four requested a public defender.

Because of the Englers' pending case, Judge Phillip Shepherd ordered the DPA to find conflict council for the Beagles " a private attorney paid by the state will represent them. It's not immediately known who will handle the case.

Though the DPA is representing Mitchell Engler and his wife for the unrelated charge, Shepherd questioned in court whether he deserved public representation because he was able to post a $10,000 full cash bond.

Shepherd directed Engler, who said in court he is "on disability," to get his own attorney. Shepherd said if Engler or his family could afford the $10,000 bond, he could afford to pay for his own council.

Engler, whose son is still being held at the Franklin County Regional Jail along with the Beagles, was ordered to contact three attorneys before asking for a public defender again.

At the time of the arraignments, Christopher T. Beagle Sr. asked the court to consider reducing his bond or "OR-ing" him " releasing him on his own recognizance.

Beagle promised to the court that he would not cause trouble if released. Beagle said his wife is afraid to be at their residence and only visits it every other day to feed their dogs.

"I don't want her to be there," Beagle said.

Beagle told the court items from his house have been disappearing and he suspected the Englers were to blame.

Beagle's mother, Dorothy Pointer, 65, who came to court in support of her son and grandson, told The State Journal Friday the feud is taking its toll on her family.

"I'm scared to go anywhere," Pointer said. "They're threatening my life."
In tears, Pointer gestured at Mitch and April Engler, sitting on the other side of the courtroom. "I don't see how they can get by with everything they're doing, " Pointer said.

Pointer said trouble between the Englers and Beagles began at a Christmas party in 2007.

"They were drinking," she said.
Larry T. Engler, 36, allegedly stabbed Beagle in the thigh, state police said at the time of the 2007 incident.

State police Det. Kevin Calhoun said at the time Engler was charged with second-degree assault and taken to Franklin County Regional Jail and released later that day.

Calhoun said at the time a fistfight at a trailer at 388 St. Johns Road escalated to the use of weapons, though Beagle's injuries were not life-threatening.

A phone call to a number listed as the Englers' went unanswered Friday.
Shepherd said in court Friday each of the Beagles' and Englers' cases would be set for a trial date.

Attorneys would likely be appointed next week, Shepherd said.
State police said they were called to the area the afternoon of Sept. 9 for reports of gunfire.

Officers arrested Mitch Engler and Christopher Beagle Sr. and confiscated two weapons, police said.

State troopers said they returned around 6:30 the same evening to arrest Anthony Engler and Christopher Beagle Jr. after receiving a report of a second volley of shots.

Police said at the time of the second arrests they confiscated eight additional weapons.

Anthony Engler is formally charged with two counts of wanton endangerment, Mitch Engler four counts and Christopher Beagle Jr. twelve counts.

Christopher T. Beagle Sr. is charged with nine counts of wanton endangerment and two counts of second-degree assault.