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Closing arguments scheduled Monday in man’s 4th murder trial

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March 29th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Closing arguments have been scheduled for Monday in the fourth Iowa trial of an Illinois man accused of killing a 9-year-old girl in 1990. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the defense rested its case for 57-year-old Stanley Liggins on Thursday in Black Hawk County District Court in Waterloo. Jurors were dismissed until Monday.

He’s charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jennifer Lewis, of Rock Island, Illinois. Her burned remains were found in September 1990 near a school in neighboring Davenport, Iowa, which is just across the Mississippi River.

Liggins has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison twice in the death of Lewis. Both convictions were overturned. His third trial was moved to Black Hawk County because of extensive pretrial publicity in Scott County. It ended in a mistrial in September 2018 because jurors couldn’t reach a verdict.