Osborne has been behind bars since his arrest on July 7.
FARMINGTON – A young farmer accused of shooting his mother in a dispute over the sale of the family homestead is scheduled to go on trial at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Joshua O. Osborne, 23, of Farmington has remained behind bars since he was arrested after allegedly loading a .22 caliber rifle and attempting to murder his mother, Janette Osborne, 47, on July 7, 2003.
Fourteen jurors were chosen last week to hear the evidence the state has against Osborne.
The case was initially scheduled for Monday but was continued to Tuesday under the supervision of Justice Joseph Jabar.
Osborne is charged with attempted murder, criminal solicitation to commit murder and elevated aggravated assault. Osborne allegedly asked his cousin to kill his mother for $15,000 the day before he himself allegedly shot her.
Osborne’s uncle, William Osborne, has said previously that Oliver Osborne, Joshua’s dad, had said the farm was going to be Joshua’s one day; it would be his pay for long hours he put in on the farm since he was a young boy.
Then Oliver died on Jan. 3, 2003, and Janette Osborne, who had left the family to go to Colorado, came back in May and decided to sell the farm, but not to her son.
Janette Osborne told police on July 7, according to an affidavit, that she had told her son’s girlfriend, Donna Enman, that she was planning to evict the couple.
Janette Osborne told police that Joshua had been upset about her plans to sell the farmhouse and farm equipment.
She said, “Joshua wanted the farm but he isn’t the farming type,” the affidavit states.
She told police that she had been outside hanging clothes July 7, when she heard a loud bang and felt a sharp pain in her left breast area. When she looked down and saw that she was bleeding from that area, she walked to her car around the front of the house and went to drive herself to the hospital. As she pulled out of the driveway, she told police, she looked back at the house and saw her son, Joshua standing in the yard pointing a long barreled gun at her and the car.
She told police saw Joshua pull the trigger of the gun twice and saw a bullet go through her front passenger side door just missing her. She drove herself to the hospital.
Joshua Osborne allegedly fled the area and police hunted for him for several hours before Industry firefighters talked him into turning himself in that evening.
Osborne’s girlfriend, Donna Enman, 26, is also charged with attempted murder and hindering apprehension of prosecution for allegedly aiding Joshua, hiding the guns and lying to police.
Enman was released from jail on $10,000 cash bail in October after having a son she named Joshua Oliver Osborne Jr. She is not on trial at this time.
No matter what justice deals Joshua Osborne Sr., the old homestead will never be his.
His mother sold the property. The farmhouse, large barn and outbuildings have since been torn down and removed.
In their place, a developer is proposing two subdivisions: East Grand View Estates and West Grand View Estates.
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