Ohio man granted new trial in 1974 slaying of his wife

CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge has granted a new trial to an Ohio man convicted of his wife’s murder 4 1/2 decades ago, saying his lawyers should have been told about a report naming another possible suspect.

Cleveland.com reports that a Cuyahoga County judge last week cited the failure of prosecutors to give lawyers for Isiah Andrews a Cleveland police report identifying a different possible suspect in the September 1974 slaying of Regina Andrews.

Authorities said the defendant reported his wife of 24 days missing from their residence at the Colonial House Motel. Her body was found the next day in a nearby park.

Common Pleas Court Judge Robert McClelland found no evidence that prosecutors in 1975 acted in bad faith in not handing over the reports. And he said prosecutors had cited “several good arguments” that the initial identification was irrelevant, including a lack of evidence that the other person and the victim had ever met.

“Regardless, the information was not in the hands of the defense team to make their own decision of whether it would provide a defense for their client,” he wrote.

The now-82-year-old defendant has been behind bars since 1975 and is represented by the Cincinnati-based Ohio Innocence Project. The group is also pressing for his release from Richland Correctional Institution, saying two staff members there have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last week.