Inmate's testimony in another cold case under fire
Attorney for James Strahl says he will ask for a new trial
By Nick Hytrek Journal staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Fraudulent information Aloysius Black Crow allegedly gave investigators has already halted the prosecution of David Lykken for the disappearance of two teenagers nearly 37 years ago. It could also lead to a new trial for a man convicted last year in a nearly 10-year-old murder case.
Phillip Peterson, the attorney for James Strahl, said he is waiting to receive a South Dakota Attorney General's report on Black Crow's actions in the Lykken case.
"When I do get the reports from the attorney general's office and have read them, I will file a motion seeking a new trial," Peterson said from his Beresford, S.D., office.
A Union County jury in August found Strahl, 39, of Dakota City, guilty of first-degree murder and grand theft. Strahl was found guilty of beating O'Hare, 52, to death with a ball-peen hammer at O'Hare's rural Beresford home on May 17, 1998, and stealing his car. O'Hare's body was found three weeks later.
Black Crow testified at trial that, while the two were in the Union County Jail, Strahl confessed to the killing. Prosecutors used details Black Crow said Strahl gave him about the killing to build their case in support of forensic and other evidence collected at the crime scene.
Peterson tried unsuccessfully to have Black Crow's testimony suppressed prior to trial. He said Monday he planned to interview jurors to see how big a role that testimony played in reaching their verdict.
Peterson said he could file the motion for new trial in a week or two.
On Monday, the attorney general's office filed motions to dismiss the murder charges against Lykken, who had been charged in the May 29, 1971, disappearance of high school juniors Cheryl Miller and Pamella Jackson, both of Vermillion, S.D. The 17-year-olds were last seen driving a 1960 Studebaker Lark on a rural Union County road on their way to a party. Their bodies have never been found.
Lykken, 53, was charged in June 2007 with their deaths. Included in the evidence expected to be used at Lykken's Union County trial in March were confessions Black Crow said Lykken made to him while the two were both inmates at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.
On Friday, Attorney General Larry Long announced that Black Crow tape recorded a conversation between himself and a third inmate, who pretended to be Lykken admitting to killing Jackson and Miller.
Though charges are dismissed, authorities will continue to try to solve the case, said Sara Rabern, a South Dakota Attorney General's Office spokeswoman.
"The investigation hasn't quit, as far as the cold case goes," Rabern said.
Lykken will remain in prison, where he has been serving a 227-year sentence since 1990 for raping and kidnapping an ex-girlfriend in Clay County.
Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.
Phillip Peterson, the attorney for James Strahl, said he is waiting to receive a South Dakota Attorney General's report on Black Crow's actions in the Lykken case.
"When I do get the reports from the attorney general's office and have read them, I will file a motion seeking a new trial," Peterson said from his Beresford, S.D., office.
A Union County jury in August found Strahl, 39, of Dakota City, guilty of first-degree murder and grand theft. Strahl was found guilty of beating O'Hare, 52, to death with a ball-peen hammer at O'Hare's rural Beresford home on May 17, 1998, and stealing his car. O'Hare's body was found three weeks later.
Black Crow testified at trial that, while the two were in the Union County Jail, Strahl confessed to the killing. Prosecutors used details Black Crow said Strahl gave him about the killing to build their case in support of forensic and other evidence collected at the crime scene.
Peterson tried unsuccessfully to have Black Crow's testimony suppressed prior to trial. He said Monday he planned to interview jurors to see how big a role that testimony played in reaching their verdict.
Peterson said he could file the motion for new trial in a week or two.
On Monday, the attorney general's office filed motions to dismiss the murder charges against Lykken, who had been charged in the May 29, 1971, disappearance of high school juniors Cheryl Miller and Pamella Jackson, both of Vermillion, S.D. The 17-year-olds were last seen driving a 1960 Studebaker Lark on a rural Union County road on their way to a party. Their bodies have never been found.
Lykken, 53, was charged in June 2007 with their deaths. Included in the evidence expected to be used at Lykken's Union County trial in March were confessions Black Crow said Lykken made to him while the two were both inmates at the South Dakota State Penitentiary.
On Friday, Attorney General Larry Long announced that Black Crow tape recorded a conversation between himself and a third inmate, who pretended to be Lykken admitting to killing Jackson and Miller.
Though charges are dismissed, authorities will continue to try to solve the case, said Sara Rabern, a South Dakota Attorney General's Office spokeswoman.
"The investigation hasn't quit, as far as the cold case goes," Rabern said.
Lykken will remain in prison, where he has been serving a 227-year sentence since 1990 for raping and kidnapping an ex-girlfriend in Clay County.
Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.
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