COLUMBIA COUNTY, Wis. (WTAQ) - A jury from Jefferson County would hear the possible trial of a man accused of killing an 18-year-old woman in Columbus 30 years ago.
A two-week trial is scheduled to begin November 8th in Columbia County for 52-year-old Curtis Forbes. He’s accused of beating, stabbing, and strangling Marilyn McIntyre in her Columbus apartment in March of 1980.
Her husband Lane was working at the time. A motive was never determined. Forbes was said to be a friend of the victim’s family. He was arrested in March of last year, when authorities said they found his DNA in a bathroom sink at the victim’s home. He’s been jailed since then under a $450,000 bond.
About 200 jurors will be sent questionnaires. Up to 110 of them would have to appear for a selection process involving attorneys on both sides. The pool will then be whittled down to 12 jurors and 2 alternates.
The trial was supposed to begin at the end of April, with a jury from Wood County. But the judge decided to give prosecutors time whether to decide to appeal a ruling to suppress some of the DNA evidence. The state decided not to appeal, thus allowing the trial to be re-scheduled.
