Dunn to be retried
Story date: June 5, 2010
30-year-old will again face jury in connection with death of Nona Dirksmeyer
By Mary Kincy
[email protected]
LITTLE ROCK Prosecutors intend to retry the man charged in the 2005 slaying of Nona Dirksmeyer, one confirmed Friday.
Proceedings in the capital murder trial of Dirksmeyers neighbor, Gary W. Dunn, spanned more than three weeks last spring before a jury hopelessly deadlocked 8-4 in deciding whether he bludgeoned the beauty queen amid a sex-fueled attack. Circuit Judge Bill Pearson declared a mistrial May 1.
Jack McQuary, a special prosecutor appointed to the case following the 2008 arrest of Dunn, 30, said Friday the second trial will begin Jan. 10, 2011.
He declined further comment, citing a gag order preventing attorneys and others involved in the case from speaking to the media.
It was unclear where proceedings will take place, although the Franklin County Courthouse at Charleston, a community of about 3,000 located 25 miles southeast of Fort Smith, is the sole site in the judicial district other than the Pope County Courthouse that has yet to play host to a trial in the death.
Attorneys for Kevin Jones, Dirksmeyers boyfriend who was previously tried for and acquitted of the murder successfully argued for a venue change away from Pope County ahead of his 2007 trial, citing extensive publicity surrounding the case, while Dunns attorneys in the months leading up to their clients trial won a transfer to the Johnson County Courthouse at Clarksville.
Since May 1, Dunn who was in 2003 convicted in the attack of a woman at Bona Dea Trails in Russellville and was on parole Dec. 15, 2005, the day of Dirksmeyers murder has remained in custody at the Pope County Detention Center.
His bond is set at $1 million.
Story date: June 5, 2010
30-year-old will again face jury in connection with death of Nona Dirksmeyer
By Mary Kincy
[email protected]
LITTLE ROCK Prosecutors intend to retry the man charged in the 2005 slaying of Nona Dirksmeyer, one confirmed Friday.
Proceedings in the capital murder trial of Dirksmeyers neighbor, Gary W. Dunn, spanned more than three weeks last spring before a jury hopelessly deadlocked 8-4 in deciding whether he bludgeoned the beauty queen amid a sex-fueled attack. Circuit Judge Bill Pearson declared a mistrial May 1.
Jack McQuary, a special prosecutor appointed to the case following the 2008 arrest of Dunn, 30, said Friday the second trial will begin Jan. 10, 2011.
He declined further comment, citing a gag order preventing attorneys and others involved in the case from speaking to the media.
It was unclear where proceedings will take place, although the Franklin County Courthouse at Charleston, a community of about 3,000 located 25 miles southeast of Fort Smith, is the sole site in the judicial district other than the Pope County Courthouse that has yet to play host to a trial in the death.
Attorneys for Kevin Jones, Dirksmeyers boyfriend who was previously tried for and acquitted of the murder successfully argued for a venue change away from Pope County ahead of his 2007 trial, citing extensive publicity surrounding the case, while Dunns attorneys in the months leading up to their clients trial won a transfer to the Johnson County Courthouse at Clarksville.
Since May 1, Dunn who was in 2003 convicted in the attack of a woman at Bona Dea Trails in Russellville and was on parole Dec. 15, 2005, the day of Dirksmeyers murder has remained in custody at the Pope County Detention Center.
His bond is set at $1 million.