By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – A detention hearing was held for the murder case of Marie Walkingstick Pheasant on the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 28 in Cherokee Tribal Court with Judge Sunshine Parker presiding.
The suspect, Ernest Pheasant, waived his appearance in court, as well as the opportunity to cross examine witnesses and rebut his detention hearing. Pheasant will be held with no bond until the next hearing date of Feb. 13, 2024.
Marie Walkingstick Pheasant was 26 years old when she was found dead inside a burning vehicle on Old Rock Crusher Road in the Big Cove community of the Qualla Boundary on Dec. 29, 2013. Her husband, Ernest Pheasant, was arraigned on five offenses on Nov. 21, 2023, by Judge Monty Beck in Cherokee Court:
23CR10182: Tampering with witnesses
23CR10183: Homicide in the first degree
23CR10184: Domestic violence and dating violence
23CR10185: Tampering with evidence
23CR10186: Possession of firearms, etc. by felon prohibited
Pheasant is being accused of placing his arm around the neck of his wife Marie Walkingstick Pheasant and strangling her to death, then subsequently burning her body in her vehicle in an effort to destroy evidence of the crime of murder between Dec. 28, 2013 and the morning of Dec. 29, 2013.
