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Thursday, July 20, 2006
Ind. Courts - More on: South Bend Osco Triple Murder Trial
Updating this ILB entry from July 10th, today the AP reports, in a story headlined "Second hung jury for man accused of killing 3 in South Bend":
NEW CASTLE, Ind. - The trial of former South Bend drug store manager accused of killing three former co-workers 16 years ago has ended in a hung jury for a second time.A Henry County jury deliberated two days without reaching a verdict in the murder trial of Christopher Allen, forcing a mistrial to be declared Thursday.
It was the third time Allen was tried in the shooting deaths of assistant manager Scott Dick, 29, clerk Connie Zalewski, 43, and pharmacist Tracy Holvoet, 24, during an early morning robbery at an Osco in 1990.
The first trial in June 2001 also with a hung jury. He was convicted in June 2003 on three counts of murder and sentenced to 144 years in prison. But the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned that verdict August 2004, ruling that evidence was wrongfully excluded during the second trial.
The St. Joseph County prosecutor in the early 1990s, Michael Barnes, did not bring charges in the case. Allen was charged by then-Prosecutor Christopher Toth in 1999. * * *
The case was moved to Henry County because of extensive pretrial media coverage in the South Bend area.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 20, 2006 06:53 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions