2nd trial unlikely for Ohio man in ’86 slayings

BELLEFONTAINE (AP) — It’s unlikely that a suspect in two 1986 Ohio slayings can be charged a second time despite new DNA evidence, a prosecutor said.
Constitutional issues may prevent charging Terry Lowe again, including the fact that a person can’t be tried twice for the same alleged crime, Logan County Prosecutor William Goslee told the Bellefontaine Examiner.
A former prosecutor in 1994 dismissed a capital murder case against Lowe, who now lives in Lima. He was accused of fatally stabbing Phyllis Mullett, 37, in her Belle Center home and shooting 64-year-old town Marshal Murray Griffin when he tried to help the woman on the night of July 5, 1986.
The prosecutor’s office this winter received DNA testing results from more than 20 boxes of evidence collected days after the slayings. Testing on a drop of blood found on a sliding glass door at Mullett’s home shows a high probability that the blood came from Lowe, authorities said.
DNA extracted from inside a knot on a rope used to bind Mullett’s legs also pointed to Lowe, according to authorities.
Lowe could not be reached for comment. A telephone number was not available. His former attorney, Dennis Day Lager, said he continues to believe that authorities targeted the wrong man.
The state didn’t have sufficient evidence when Lowe went to trial and the case “cannot be reopened,” said Day Lager, who now is the public defender in Portage County.

Posted by Daily Chief on July 9, 2012. Filed under State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry