Friday, April 22, 2011

Columbus, OH: Ohio woman accused in husband's murder won't be retried after discovery that key witness lied

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Prosecutors will not retry a central Ohio woman who spent 20 years in prison in the poisoning death of her husband before being released because a toxicologist lied when he testified in her case.
The case was dismissed by a Licking County judge on Thursday. The Columbus Dispatch reports that Prosecutor Kenneth Oswalt says there's not enough untainted evidence for a retrial.
Virginia LeFever was sentenced to life in prison in 1990. She was released in November after investigators found that Franklin County toxicologist James Ferguson had lied.
Ferguson testified he received a biochemistry degree from Ohio State in 1972, but records show he received it in 1988. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail for falsification in a related civil case.
The 59-year-old LeFever could be recharged if new evidence surfaces. She says her husband, William, committed suicide because the Newark couple was divorcing.

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