Three Trials To Be Held For Man Accused Of West MI Murders

gaveltakenbyandrew-47
gaveltakenbyandrew-47

From the Associated Press — A judge has turned down a prosecutor’s request to hold one trial for a western Michigan man who is accused of killing two women and abducting a teen in three separate incidents. Muskegon County Judge William Marietti says the three cases have common
threads. But he said Friday that one trial would require “significant mental gymnastics” for jurors as they consider the evidence. Jeffrey Willis is charged with killing a gas station clerk in 2013 and a jogger in 2014. A teenager escaped his van and went to police last year. Defense attorney Brian Hosticka argued that the three incidents are “completely separate.” Nick Winberg, father of the slain jogger, Rebekah Bletsch, says he supports separate trials. He wants a “clean, crisp trial” in his daughter’s case.