Arraignment set for Choctaw County murder suspect

By By William F. West / community editor
March 6, 2003
BUTLER, Ala. An arraignment has been scheduled for a 46-year-old Choctaw County woman charged with murder in the shooting death of her husband.
The Rev. John Mark Hartzog died last summer.
The arrest of Theda S. Hartzog came Monday after she was indicted by a Choctaw County grand jury for allegedly shooting her husband with a 9 mm pistol.
Hartzog, of 6174 Pleasant Hill Road, is free on a $50,000 bond set by Circuit Judge Harold Crow.
She is scheduled to appear March 13 before Circuit Judge Tom Baxter. At that hearing, she will be formally told the charge against her and advised of her legal rights.
The body of John Mark Hartzog, 46, was found the night of Aug. 9 in his study at Stafford Full Gospel Church on Pleasant Hill Road. Past news reports said he had been mowing the yard at church before his wife discovered his body.
John Mark Hartzog was born in Panama City, Fla., and lived in Alabama for most of his life. He formerly owned a Christian book store in Butler and worked in the oil field industry. He also served as chief of the Pleasant Hill Volunteer Fire Department.
District Attorney Bobby Keahey and Sheriff Don Lolley declined Wednesday to comment on the case.
No trial date has been set. Keahey said the earliest possible trial date would be in early May.
Theda Hartzog couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday at Tom Orr Vocational Center, where she works as a payroll clerk. The person who answered the phone said Hartzog was referring questions to her attorney, whose offices are in Butler. The attorney could not be reached for comment.