Murder trial underway

MILFORD (AP) - An upcoming hearing to determine how much child support he would have to pay gave a Monroe County man the motive to strangle his ex-girlfriend and drown their 7-month-old daughter, a prosecutor told jurors. Trial opened Monday in Pike County Court for Gregory Rowe, 19, who could face the death penalty if convicted of the May 4, 2004, deaths of Kristen Fisher, 17, and 7-month-old Kaylee, in the Tranquility Falls development in Greene Township. Rowe’s lawyer, Gavin P. Holihan, argued that there was no physical evidence to place him at the scene and suggested others might have killed the two. Mr. Holihan read three poems that Fisher had written with a suicide theme. Fisher was found on the garage floor with a rope around her neck and a knocked-over stool nearby. Kaylee was found drowned in the bathtub.