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Trial to begin for Illinois man charged in Iowa killing

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August 27th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A third trial is set to begin for an Illinois man convicted of the 1990 killing of a 9-year-old girl in Iowa. The Quad-City Times reports that 56-year-old Stanley Liggins will go on trial Tuesday on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Lewis. Juries have twice convicted Liggins in the death of Jennifer Lewis, who disappeared from her Rock Island, Illinois, neighborhood. Her burned remains were found near a Davenport school in September 1990.

The Iowa Supreme Court overturned Liggins’ 1993 conviction. The Iowa Court of Appeals in November 2013 vacated Liggins’ second conviction. The court ruled that 77 police reports weren’t provided to Liggins’ defense team and that prosecutors didn’t disclose that a key witness was a paid police informant. Liggins has maintained his innocence.