JACKSON COUNTY — The jury trial of a 24-year-old Carbondale woman accused in the murder of a former Salem woman continued Monday as the court agreed to have a mental fitness examination conducted on the defendant. Tiesha Anderson was scheduled to be tried July 30 in Jackson County court for the murder of Robin Stief and the concealment of her death.

Prosecutors say Anderson and two others beat Robin Stief to death then burned her body in a trash can in a wooded area of Carbondale. Lauren Stinde, of Murphysboro, has already pleaded guilty to murdering Stief and the concealment of her death and awaits sentencing.

(Lauren Stinde)

Robert J. Dennis has pleaded not guilty and following his own fitness examination has been found mentally fit to stand trial, which is scheduled for October 1.

(Robert J. Dennis)

Anderson was scheduled to submit a plea in the case last December, but instead pushed her public defense counsel to withdraw and had filed a letter with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee calling her defense attorney’s competency into question.

The lawyer denied the validity of Anderson’s complaint but said it would be best for the court to appoint a new attorney, as the letter to the ARDC creates a conflict.
Prosecutors supported the defense attorney’s statements, but called Anderson’s actions a “delay tactic.”