Prosecutor motions for trial continuance
, Richmond News Staff
11-03-2009
Ray County’s interim prosecutor will push Tuesday to bump Ronald D. Wrisinger’s murder trial from late 2009 to early 2010.Bryan McMahon requested the continuance because he needs time to brief Attorney General’s assistant Julie Tolle on the case’s details. It’s a precaution in case McMahon misses being appointed Ray County’s official prosecutor.
“We just want to make sure our bases are covered in case someone new is appointed,” he said.
McMahon couldn’t guarantee on Friday one way or another whether Wrisinger’s attorney, John O’Connor, would accept McMahon’s request, which goes to court Tuesday morning in Ray County. If granted, Wrisinger could stand trial as late as March or April, McMahon said.
“I don’t know if (O’Connor) has had a chance to sit down with his client to say whether he objects to this motion,” he said.
Wrisinger’s wife, Sherry, then 40, and then-16-year-old daughter Johnna disappeared from Richmond June 6, 1986. The two have never been found. Wrisinger, 67, formerly of Richmond, was arrested May 28 in Marble Hills, Ark., on two first-degree murder counts related to the 23-year-old unsolved case.
Prior to McMahon’s appointment as interim prosecutor, former prosecutor Jim Thompson declined seeking the death penalty for Wrisinger who faces life imprisonment if convicted.
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