Accused teenage killer Vernon Bartley said in an apology letter to his neighbor Karen Ertell that he did not want to go into juvenile detention.

In the letter Bartley wrote, “;I don't like to go DH.”;

The “;DH”; stands for detention home.

Bartley, then 14 years old, wrote the letter to Ertell in 2006 after burglarizing her Ewa Beach home a number of times and stealing candy, small items, jewelry and money, said First Deputy Prosecutor Douglas Chin.

Bartley, now 17, is on trial in Circuit Court for the May 25, 2007, strangulation murder and sexual assault of the 51-year-old Ertell. He was 15 at the time. State Family Court waived jurisdiction over Bartley, allowing the state to prosecute him as an adult.

Ertell was scheduled to testify against Bartley in juvenile court for an Oct. 1, 2006, burglary.

Two days after the murder, police said, Bartley confessed to killing Ertell and taking her car, credit cards and other items from her home. His father told police his son had already confessed to him that he killed Ertell.

  Vernon Bartley Goes On Trial

 

Boy who admitted killing his neighbor when he was 15 years old went on trial today.

[ Watch ]

 

Bartley's lawyer, Jeffrey Hawk, did not make an opening statement on the first day of trial yesterday and has yet to reveal his client's defense.

Ertell did not want to prosecute Bartley for the earlier burglaries. Instead, she went to his parents, asked for the letter of apology from their son, and arranged to have the teenager pay her back by doing yardwork, Chin said.

However, in the October 2006 burglary, Bartley stole nearly $600 from Ertell's handbag. A few days later, Bartley's mother went to Ertell, said her son admitted to her that he stole the money and apologized, Chin said.

Ertell reported the burglary to police.

Bartley went to juvenile court May 22, 2007, and learned he was going to trial in July 2007.

Three days later Ertell was dead.